Struggle

While he was recovering from his injury, she became scared of losing him. Things that didn't bother her before now made her nervous. Now he was taking care of her, helping her through her struggles. He stood by her and just as they thought life was about to get easier, it didn't.

After spending the holidays fighting with friends over personal issues, they had one more thing to add to their plate. At 4am, the were woken up, by a faint alarm and the smell of smoke. As their apartment filled with smoke, they moved quickly grabbed some shoes and their cat and walked out as a firefighter came to their door. They stood and watched in the early morning hours as firefighters searched for the source of the fire, and saw smoke billowing from the building. It was after 7am when it was all over, and the fire dept said they could go in for a min to get a few personal belongings.

The fire had not destroyed their apt, but it had made it unlivable. Everything was covered with smoke and there were scorch marks on the walls. There were also holes from where the firefighters had taken their ax to the wall in search of the source. The source was the apt directly behind theirs. After what they thought was the worst six months of their life, they went into a new year hoping for the best. In the first month of the new year, they ended up without an apartment.

In the years since they struggled with everything from job loss, relocation, illness, and love loss. All of the big problems made it difficult to get through the everyday problems. It became about trying to get through each day and they needed each other just to survive. The love they once shared was drowning in everything else. She did not know if she could do it anymore.

Her mind began to wander.

Thinking about that guy, who did not share her struggles, the guy who reminded her of everything before real life happened.

He had nothing to do with her current life and that seemed like the best thing ever.