Echoes of Us

One

This was the most difficult task of Harrison's life. The fate of his marriage depended on it.

Harrison's hands trembled, his movements precise yet filled with tension.

The air was thick with an urgency that only he could feel as he desperately tried to complete the task in front of him.

Harrison's moves became slow and deliberate, holding his breath as he neared the end of this arduous process. It seemed to carry an almost unbearable weight, the anticipation of success or failure hanging in the balance.

Wait, Harrison thought, what's that smell?

He coughed repeatedly as a strong smell filled the air; a smoky, almost bitter scent, it became all that he could think about.

Just then, the sound of a fire alarm pierced through the tense silence.

Harrison turned towards the stairs as he suddenly heard crashing footsteps.

"Did you burn the pancakes again?!"

Avery ran into the kitchen waving a tea towel around as the smoke alarm shrieked in the background.

"Harrison! Turn it off!"

With the tea towel in one hand, Avery ran over and spun the stove dial to turn off the flame under the still burning pancake in the pan.

As the flame extinguished, a faint hiss escaped from the pan in front of Harrison; the sizzling sound faded into silence as the smoke alarm continued.

Avery leaned over, opened the window and then ran back and opened the back patio door to allow some fresh air in.

Harrison still stood in the kitchen watching the chaos unfold around him.

Avery was standing on the threshold of the patio door and waving the tea towel back and forth, trying to guide the smoky air outside.

After a whole lot of tea towel waving, the smoke alarm finally stopped and Avery closed the door then turned to look at Harrison.

Harrison suddenly burst into laughter, a sound that bubbled up from somewhere inside of him. It seemed to release all of the tension he had been feeling earlier.

Avery watched as Harrison threw his head back as he laughed, and she couldn't help but smile at the sight of her husband with the spatula still in his hand and the burnt pancake sitting in the pan in front of him.

"Sorry, Bird," Harrison said through his giggles, using the nickname he had given Avery when they had first met.

He had told Avery that her name sounded just like 'aviary', and since then, the nickname Bird had stuck.

Avery shook her head with a smile on her face as she walked over and stood next to Harrison.

"What would everyone at the company say if they saw you right now? 'Harrison Surland, CEO of SURLAND', burning a pancake?"

Avery brought her hands up, framing the word SURLAND in the air for emphasis.

"Aren't you supposed to be an engineer?" she quipped, gently tossing the tea towel she had been holding over Harrison's head.

Harrison let out a short, breathy laugh, the action causing a small wave to ripple through the towel.

"Number one," Harrison began as he stepped toward Avery with the towel still on his head, "I'm a software engineer."

Avery smiled in anticipation, her lips pressed together as she took a small step back.

"Number two," Harrison continued, raising a hand to grab a corner of the towel before slowly pulling it down to reveal his face, "that's mister Harrison Surland to you."