A grandfather and his grandson were talking one night, the grandfather sitting on the edge of the bed with his legs folded over the side, planted on the floor flat and gently.
The grandson was tucked between sheets, lazily folded over for maximum comfort, to the grandfathers confusion
This was an awfully, particularly restless night because there was nothing particular about the day at all.
No noteable stars or noteable absence of any, no colorful or dim tinge to the night sky or discernible pattern the pair hasn’t seen before
The grandson did not know this was why he was restless, but the grandfathers open eyes squinted slightly, trying to make a solution
And so he spoke
And asked
“Do you know of the man who smiles in fire?”
The grandson paused for a second, and rolled over, to look at the window
“The devil?!”
“No,no” he responded gently, with a slight smile and muffled chuckle.
“Not a fiend, but a man, a good man”
“His eyes contain them, but it’s doesn’t burn; only warms”
“Does he have superpowers”
“No, his skin can burn like anyone elses”
“So why does he smile in fire, if it hurts.”
“Is he not scared?” The grandson asks , shoving the corner of his blankets to the side, over the shadowy parts he doesn’t like.
“Terrifed”
The grandfather is no longer looking at the bed, but out the window as well, his wide, circular eyes opened gently.
“But he smiles anyway.”
“He smiles because he’s always around, and he smiles because he’ll never be gone, even if you don’t even know he exists”
“So he lives forever”
“No, but he lives in you. And me.” The grandfather points his finger to his grandson and then at his own chest, his eyes narrowing.
“He can flip over cars, and jump into burning buildings
Swim into floods and climb trees with nothing but his bare hands”
Even if he gets splinters, or his new clothes get soaked, or his hair catches fire, or he’s sore for days after”
But he only comes out when you need it. It may even be in a story, or when you feel so scared you can’t move.”
One time, when I was around your age, he rescued your mom and our family. Our building caught on fire and he climbed up and down until he got every single person to safety”
The grandfathers eyes softened once more
“The hero, I’ve been told, could never walk the same again”
The grandson flipped over and saw his grandfather, watching him and his eyes tilting, straining at the sky
“Did he smile?”
“Yeah”
“Because the fire didn’t burn, as much as his heart did”
A couple minutes later, the grandson was dozing off to sleep, pulling the blankets he used to hide the underpart of his bed back on to himself, smiling at the reflection of the shadows
Seeing this, the grandfather picked up his cane, and walked outside the room.
“Grandpa, what was the man’s name?”
“He had none, in that moment”
“So what would could you call him”
I would call him
A hero.”
