We were lucky to get out alive. True, the house was a total loss, as was everything inside. Years, decades of memories were gone in an instant. My wife fell to her knees, sobbing. I was silent, still in shock. How had this happened? What do we do next?

The fire department had arrived, and took to action. Granted this was my home, my world that was burning away to embers, but I still watched in awe. I had always been amazed by firefighters, their skill and bravery. Breaking myself away from them, I turned to my wife.

“Shh, it’ll be okay. We are alive, we are safe, We lost “things,” only. We can move one. You still have me.”

“I know, I know, its just everything we collected over the years. So many Beanie Babies. So many Cabbage Patch kids. All the Funkos!” Yeah, we hoarded toys. Not to resell, we were just nerds. And we had no children, no human ones anyway. Just Fluffy the cat...shit. Where was the cat?

I looked over my shoulder, and was relieved to see Fluffy, he must have escaped again. We tried to keep him inside, but he always found a way out. “Look, Fluffy is safe as well,” I mentioned to my wife. I walked over to the cat, and he started away. No doubt spooked by the flames. No worries, he’d be back.

Then I noticed the matches. No, Fluffy is a cat. He couldn’t...

He did alway hate the Beanie Babies. That damn cat...