The Bluestone Review 2020

The Bluestone Review 2020

Prose

Happy Birthday in the Saddest Place on Earth The family sang happy birthday to her. Beeps and the hum of a ventilator were the background music that filled the song. Instead of a birthday cake, she had liquefied mush from the hospital cafeteria. Her daughter made her a special present, but her Mommy’s eyes wouldn’t open to look at it. The family came to celebrate another year of life, but what kind of life is it to be constantly losing yours? She woke up for a few minutes. They took pictures. “Happy birthday, Mommy,” her daughter whispered as her mother’s eyes started to close again. She celebrated her birthday that year unconscious in a hospital bed. Perhaps in her dreams she was in a happy place. Miracles Don’t Only Happen in Fairy Tales She grew up watching fairy tales on TV. She saw miracles happen all the time, but TV wasn’t real. Now she was lying in a hospital bed watching her daughters play while her life was draining from her. They told the family she had a few weeks to live. They said goodbye. She wrote letters to her daughter for their wedding day. Tick. Tick. Tick. The days were flying by. But then she woke up and felt different. She felt alive. She wondered if she was in her new body in heaven, but she could still feel the prick of the IV in her chest. They sent her home, not to die, but to live. Miracles don’t only happen in fairy tales. What It’s Like to Love a Firefighter By Ashley Bowman Being a girlfriend, fiancé, or wife to a firefighter isn’t what people think it’s cut out to be. It’s not this romantic love story where he is this big hero who always saves the day and you think it makes you look cool to be with them. It comes with a lot of struggles. It’s both of you waking up from a dead sleep because the pager went off. It’s having to stop in the middle of a movie you just started to get into because there’s a house on fire. It’s sitting alone for hours, when he promised y’all were going to spend quality time together that day because a fire alarm went off somewhere. It’s not getting to finish a conversation that’s important to the both of you, be- cause someone wrecked and needs help. It’s him dropping you off at the house alone because they need backup at the station. It’s having to eat dinner alone, because y’all rode to the restaurant together, and as soon as the food is brought out, he has to leave because someone is having a heart attack. It’s plans that are being changed because as soon as you get ready to walk out of the door together, the fire department shows up to your house needing his help rescuing people from flood disasters. It’s him coming home from a long, horrible call, but won’t talk to you about it. It’s him having bad days because he’s thinking about the person that he was trying to save that died on the last call. It’s non-stop things like that. Loving a firefighter is hard. But, it’s also the most rewarding and blessed

10