Pyro

I ran into the adoption agency.

“I am Hailey Jonston,” I said, breathlessly. I had ran the whole twenty blocks to get here. “I want my kids. Merry, Anita, and Laurell.”

The woman smiled. “Give me a moment,” she said. “I need to see where they are.”

The woman got up and went into another room.

The door behind me opened. My future wife, our lover, and my mentor all burst through it.

“Jesus!” Jackson said. “I didn’t know you could run that fast!”

“Are you okay?” Kendra asked, catching her breath.

“You didn’t run here, did you?” I asked, horrified. “The baby!”

She shook her head. “Just down the stairs. Jonathon drove us.”

“Good.”

“What’s going on?” Jackson asked.

“I told her that I wanted my kids. She said she had to see where they were.”

Jackson smiled. “We’re gonna get them back.”

“Good.”

“But at what cost?” Jonathon asked.

“They’ve been in foster care.”

“Oh.”

The door opened and the woman came in with three little girls that looked like me.

Acknowledgments

I just want to thank those of you who helped me go over this piece with a fine-tooth comb. I also want to thank my co-workers for putting up with how often I said aloud how many words I had written and how many I had left to go. Thank you for encouraging me while I wrote this!