[ Glow ] ~ Anthony Lockwood x OC

XII - The Dangers of Letting Go

"Mum, what're you making?" Alex ran into the kitchen, planting her hands against the counter and standing on her toes to look up at her mother.

"Hotcakes!" Daniel yelled from her spot on top of the counter, giggling out as she cheered. She had flour covering her face and clothes and a giddy smile playing at her lips.

"What kind?" Alex pouted, her eyes squinting in an almost accusatory glare.

"The good ones, I hope." A hearty chuckle came from the door, the jingle of keys sounding as they were hung unto the wall.

"Daddy!" Daniel smiled, her face lighting up as she wiggled her way off her bum and onto her stomach. The five year old pushed herself so she was dangling off the counter, trying with all her might to wiggle her toes to the ground. She was just too small.

"Daniel!" Jordan chuckled, putting the bowl onto the counter and helping her daughter down. As soon as her bare feet hit the icy tile, Daniel was off in a sprint. Her face landed against her father's thigh and her little arms wrapped as far around his legs as she could manage.

"You're home!" Daniel's words were muffled, her nose dug against his pants.

"How was your day, Blues?"

"Dad, we went to the park today!" Alex smiled, cutting off her little sister before she could answer. She was stirring the bowl her mother previously had, sneakily sticking her fingers into the chocolate chip batter and putting them in her mouth.

"Oh really? Did you have fun, Starfish?" William bent down as he spoke to Alex, planting his hands under Daniel's armpits and lifting her to rest against his hip.

"Yeah! Mum pushed me on the swings for thirty minutes." Alex beamed, her green eyes shining in the low light.

"Thirty whole minutes?" He gasped, playing into his daughter's excitement. "What about you, Blues?" He turned his head, looking down at Daniel and tapping her on the nose.

"Mummy let me go on the big kid slide." She stuck her arms straight in the air as if she were still on the slide that she had been going down over and over in the sun.

"The big kid slide!? But you're still so little." William held jokingly wide eyes, but it only made his daughter more excited.

"Nuh uh!" Daniel shook her head violently, her father giving a warm smile at the sight.

"What's Mum making for dinner?" William looked up, meeting his wife's gaze from across the room. Of course, he had already heard, but he enjoyed talking to his girls.

"We're making hotcakes!" Alex cheered, holding the over-mixed bowl up above her head.

"Hotcakes? For dinner?" William smiled, walking over toward the kitchen. "That's crazy."

"I thought you'd appreciate the crazy." Jordan quirked a brow, staring down William as he put Daniel back on the kitchen counter.

"That's because you're insane." His eyes crinkled with his smile.

"Mmm," Jordan shook her head. "That's all you."

As though he were trying to prove her point, on his way past Alex he stuck his finger in the batter. As soon as he was in front of his wife, William wiped the mixture on Jordan's nose. She let out a small squeal, slapping his finger away and wiping at the cold feeling with the back of her hand. "Will!"

"You got the burner on, yet?" Ignoring Jordan's call and walking toward the island to grab a pan from the cupboard. "We all know I'm the best hotcake flipper."

"No way." Jordan denied.

She was immediately getting shut down by her girls who started yelling "He is! He is!" With laughter and jokes in the air, the family continued to bask in the warmth of each other.

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By the time night fell, the girls were exhausted and so were their parents. Alex fell asleep on the couch with their movie playing softly in the background. Daniel had made her way up to their bedroom, cuddled under her heap of blankets on the bottom bunk of the girls' bed.

The next thing Daniel knew, it was overwhelmingly warm and a orange glow encompassed her room. Her eyes blinked open and she could hear her father yelling her name. "Daddy?" The five year old sat up, rubbing at the sockets of her eyes with the back of her wrists.

"Daniel-" The word was choked out in a fit of coughs, "Daniel don't move!"

"Daddy?" Daniel repeated, sliding her legs off the side of her bed and out from under the six blankets that were piled on top of her. It was too hot. "Daddy, what's wrong?" She held her bunny plush tight to her chest as she stalked toward her cracked door.

"Daniel, stay in bed!" There was a loud thud that was drowned out by her father falling back into a rhythm of coughs and a loud crackling that seemed to get louder the closer Daniel got to the door.

"Daddy?" Her voice was raised now, a stinging building in the back of her eyes. She made it to the door, ignoring her father's previous pleas. She wiggled her way through the crack without touching the handle and stopped just in the hall. She looked both ways, the same type of glow that came from their burners was drowning the walls in orange and yellow. In the center of the floor, between her bedroom door and her parent's, her father lay with soot coating his skin and shirt. "Daddy? Why are you sleeping on the floor?" The burn in her eyes pressed further, her cheeks suddenly feeling cold.

"Blues, go back to your room." William's voice was rasped, hoarse from the smoke that filled his lungs.

"Daddy?"

"Please, Blues." There were tears in his blue eyes that mirrored Daniel's, the same glossy look on his face. "Please."

Daniel took a step forward, she couldn't control it she just did. And another, and another, and next thing she knew she was kneeling beside her father. She wrapped her arms around him, hugging her father and trying her best to shield him. She needed to keep her daddy safe. She couldn't fathom what the issue was, but she knew he needed protecting.

A man came barging through in thick black and yellow clothes and a bright red helmet, "Hello? Is anyone-" The man froze when he saw Daniel laying on top of William, "Hey, hey. Come here, I'm gonna get you safe." He walked closer slowly, holding his hands out for Daniel to run into. He was quick to lift her up and turn, running down the stairs and out into the open night air. Daniel choked on smoke, sputtering her breaths as the stranger handed her off to a nice looking lady. She was placed onto a gurney and a mask was put over her nose. She still held her bunny, looking toward her house. She couldn't see anyone she knew. Her dad, her mum and her sister nowhere in sight. Where were they? Why was she out in the cold with all these strangers? And why was her home glowing red?

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Word Count - 1,190

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Published - July 1, 2023

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