I was sitting on our porch sipping my coffee when… it happened. My wife, as beautiful as when I first saw her, was toiling away in her garden doing what she does best, mesmerizing me. I remember thinking, right beforehand, how lucky I was to find the woman I was searching for.

I saw it coming towards her at a blinding speed, streaking a path across the sky. I looked on in horror at the prospect of what was to come in the next passing second. Right before impact, my wife swung her eyes towards mine, for but the briefest moment.

She didn’t even see it coming and I didn’t even warn her. I tell myself I couldn’t have saved her but deep down, I didn’t believe it. I was frozen.

Now I’m watching. Watching the fire that’s consuming the fence, lawn and garden. Paint peels and forget-me-nots burn away the as fire spreads. I sit down on the step; numb and stunned.

The flames are incinerating the porch. I can feel them and I need to thaw.

As I sit here remembering Forget-me-nots, the flames surround me.