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Down in the Dirt, v154
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The Fire Inside

Tyler White

    I never thought I would lose someone I loved at a time like this.
    Neil had bought tickets to see my favorite band Iron and Wine in Philadelphia. The venue was small for their popularity. Their album Our Endless Numbered Days had just turned ten and they were playing it in full. I had been feeling depressed lately, and Neil decided to bring me to this concert as a pick me up. No matter what struggles we endured, he always showed me he cared at the end of the day.
    Neil and I arrived at the venue somewhat late. Neither of us knew the opening band, so we intended to purposely skip their set. His first priority was to go to the bar and get a drink.
    “Do you want a beer Chyanne?” he asked.
    “No thanks babe. You know I don’t drink.”
    “How about a Coke or Sprite?”
    “Really, I’m fine. Thanks though.”
    Neil shrugged his shoulders and went off to quench his thirst. As soon as he left Iron and Wine came onstage. Their lead singer Sam Beam came onstage and waved at the crowd before beginning to sing their song “On Your Wings.” My heart began to flutter as I sang along. The song was over a few minutes later, and their song “Naked as We Came” began to play. As my favorite lyric “I lay smiling like our sleeping children/one of us will die inside these arms” was sang, I noticed Neil had come back from the bar. The house lights came down and he got on one knee. I turned to see the spotlight being turned from the stage to Neil.
     “Will you marry me?” Neil mouthed.
    I shook my head up and down as tears streamed down my cheeks. The crowd went wild as Neil got up and kissed me. As our lips touched, two things happened: he slid the ring on my finger, and fireworks went off and touched the ceiling. What no one was expecting was for the ceiling to catch fire. The tiles lit up like my eyes had when Neil asked me to be his wife just moments ago. Several of them came crashing down and landed on several concertgoers, squashing them like a bug under a shoe. Attendees began screaming and flailing around as the venue broke into mass chaos. Neil grabbed my hand as we ran to one of the exits. When we arrived at the exit, there was a sign on the door. It read “Staff: Please ensure this door is locked at all times. Since this is not an emergency exit, it does not need to remain unlocked. YOUR paychecks will suffer if people continue to sneak in. Management.”
    Neil cursed under his breath and we ran to the back of the venue where we had come in. There were not many people left in the venue, as most of them had either been crushed or had already left. Bodies littered the floor as pools of blood flowed from the mangled remains of attendees. The fire was getting worse as the building became engulfed in flames, shining like the diamond ring on my finger. I began to think that the ring would mark a short-lived promise rather than a long-term commitment.
    The doors to the venue were wide open when Neil and I got there. We ran towards them as more ceiling tile fell, this time directly in front of the doors. Neil fell to the ground and I cried out. We both knew that we were not going to make it. I got on my knees beside Neil and we held each other. Neil spoke to me.
    “Chy, I love you more than anything in this entire world. I wanted this to be the perfect night, but look at us now. We’re going to die in each other’s arms.”
    “I wouldn’t have wanted to go out any other way. Just know that this essentially was the perfect night to me. I would rather spend my last few minutes on earth with you than anyone else.”
    Neil smiled and laid his head in my arms. I ran my fingers through his hair as he started to cry. He then looked up at me.
    “How many kids, Chy?”
    “Two. A boy and a girl.”
    “What are their names?”
    “Bonnie and Clyde.”
    A chuckle came from Neil. As he chuckled, a fire axe came down on the debris in the doorway. Neil and I jumped up immediately, hoping our end was no longer inevitable. A fireman chopped his way through the debris and motioned for us to come to him. Neil grabbed my hand and pulled me towards the exit. A feeling of relief washed over me much too quickly. I watched in horror as a ceiling tile fell and crushed Neil. As it landed, his hand was ripped from mine. Blood sprayed my face as I screamed in horror. Neil’s legs flailed around under the flaming ceiling tile. I fell to the ground in agony as the fireman pulled me away from Neil.
    I was placed onto a stretcher as I had suffered some minor burns and had breathed in carbon monoxide. None of that mattered to me, though. All I could think of was Neil and how I had lost him just when we had really found one another. I knew from that moment on I would see him in everything I did, as well as everywhere I went. I had lost the best thing to ever happen to me. As I was put into the back of an ambulance, a thought crossed my mind: Neil proposed to me as Iron and Wine sang “one of us will die inside these arms.” I never thought those lyrics would come to life.



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