Smoke Gets Everywhere

As the smoke clears and dust begins to settle, a new day dawns in my brain. I realize where I went wrong. Today should never have happened. The fire started when the drink I spilled met the cigarette I fell asleep on. The two took an instant liking to each other. Now, everything I own is charred and disintegrating to ash. I was fortunate that the smoke irritated Midnight enough that he dragged me from the couch in an effort to wake me up. In my drunken stupor, I fought him. The coughing finally brought me to my senses as we crawled in the general direction of the door and felt for the doorknob.

We found ourselves huddled on the sidewalk, my face buried in Midnight’s fur as sirens approached in the distance. Neighbors had thought to call the fire department, but none had ventured out to see if anyone was in harms way. I owed Midnight a lifetime of treats for being there when no one else was. Marci moved out the day before. Of course, that’s why I was drinking. I knew even as I gulped my Jack Daniels that the answers weren’t in the bottom of the glass. It is too late for that now.

Tears streamed from my face and wetted Midnight’s coat as the firemen arrived. After making sure that we were okay and no one else was inside, the set about to extinguish what was left of my life. It didn’t take that long, really. It was only a couple of hours before I was staring at the empty shell that used to be my home. I had no idea what we were going to do, but it would definitely be a different existence from the one I led yesterday. Midnight and I both knew we would be together for a long time.