Original Stories Fan Fiction ❯ The Burning Housewife ❯ One-Shot

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]
One day, a housewife was doing her usual cleaning around the house. Her husband was at work, and their kids were at school, leaving her alone for the day.

Today was their anniversary, and she was looking forward to spending the evening with her husband. Unlike many other men out there, he never forgot this day. Her brother-in-law had agreed to look after the kids today.

She was in the middle of cleaning the fireplace when she got careless and caught her dress on fire. She tried putting out the fire on her own, without any success. It didn't help that the water had been shut off to their house for a while. She didn't even bother trying to take her dress off, since she would need help to do so.

She finally went outside to avoid burning the house down; the door was just wide enough for her big, bulky hoop skirt to fit through. She ran through the neighborhood, yelling for help. Unfortunately, the men were all at work at that time, and the women were too scared to go out and aid her. She was just about to lose hope when she remembered where her husband worked. It was on the other side of town, but she couldn't think of anything else.

As she was running to her husband, she remembered when they first met. She was at the checkstand in a store with a bunch of groceries. She had accidentally left her money at home and had no way of paying. Just then, he came by and offered to pay for her groceries. She thanked him and said she'd repay him, but he said she didn't have to do so.

Back in the present, she noticed the streets were unusually deserted for this time of day. No doubt all those who'd normally be out here were on vacation. It was that time of year, after all.

Her legs were starting to get a bit tired from all her running. Worse yet, she grown her hair rather long, and she feared it would end up catching on fire. She could already feel the heat near her back and arms. She couldn't stand how helpess she was right now.

That thought of her helplessness called forth another memory. It was of the time her car wouldn't start, and she was over two miles from home. She was about to call for a tow truck when he stopped by and offered to look at her car. It turned out it just had a dead battery. He gave her his spare battery, again with no strings attached. That was the second time she would've been screwed if not for him.

After a few more incidents like this, he finally stopped messing around and asked her out. After several dates, he proposed to her. She said yes before he could finish his question.

She was now nearing his workplace. She stopped for a moment to remember which way she should turn. After a few moments, which felt like forever, she went left. By now it was getting harder to hold onto her skirt without burning her hands.

She then thought back to their wedding day. Her dress was pretty much like the one she was wearing now, except it was white. She was having a hard time getting along with his in-laws, and vice versa. Still, they were determined to make their marriage work. For the time being, they focused on the wedding itself, after which they lived it up at the reception.

The honeymoon wasn't that bad either.

Finally, she spotted the place where her husband worked. Only then did she remember he'd be taking his lunch break about this time. Worse yet, he never went to the same place twice, so she'd have no way of finding him.

This led her to revisit the day her mother burned to death right in front of her. She'd done her best not to remember this, but now it seemed history would repeat itself.

Just then, he came running out of the building, holding what looked like a large rug. Within moments, he wrapped it around her, smothering the flames. She was seriously burned, and the dress was ruined, but she was going to live.

She would later find out that an elderly man had spotted her running past his house. He was unable to help her, but he called her husband and told him about her situation. That's why he was still at the workplace when she showed up.

For now, she understood that any anniversary they both lived to see was a good one. That, and he had once again saved her when she couldn't save herself. She wasn't sure she could ever repay him, but she also knew she wouldn't have to. As far as he was concerned, just being with her was its own reward.

THE END