week #5/52: the firelight
Matt always loved the fireplace. When Felicity was a baby, this is what he and Leila used to do, light a fire and spend the night sitting in front of it. He thought they both enjoyed it. She would talk, and he would listen, and now he’s sorry that he never had anything to say back to her. But it was enough for him, the timbre of her voice, lyrical and clear, the crackle of the fire, the rustic smell of wood burning, as close to the earth as it gets. It was all he ever needed.
One night, in one of those first tumultuous weeks after it all came out, they were sat in front of a fire just like this. The silence between them was almost comfortable, the way a fight fades and loses momentum, the way anger dissolves into apathy. So they sat in front of the fire, trying to summon a conversation but finding so little to talk about beyond what their children did that day. He tried to reach to her, and at their contact, she jumped back like a shiver.
After a minute, he tried again. He reached out to her, and this time, she eased into it. And so did he. He pulled her close, and for a moment they settled there. Until he caught a glimpse of her eyes – behind the reflection of firelight on their glassy surface, underneath, they were lost and full of so much despair. It gutted him. He couldn’t stand the sight of it, so he pulled her cheek to his shoulder and forgot it was there.
– Matt, from “ghost from a wishing well, part 4”, Lakeside Heights
notes: cheated a little bit here, if it counts as cheating – I actually took these fire shots a couple weeks ago. I won’t count it as cheating though, because once the real project gets under way, I’ll have to use my time as best I can to make sure I have a photo to deliver every week. If that means I store up a bunch ahead of time, then so be it! 🙂
Again, it was hard to pick just one. I also liked the one below with the reflection on the floor. But I think I liked the wide shot just a little bit better.
Oh, and sorry for using a piece of “The Saddest Story Alive” as an excerpt, lol!
A runner-up: