# "I Sent a Valentine’s Letter to My Husband’s Office. I Don't Know Who Wrote Back" Creepypasta

An episode of [CreepsMcPasta Creepypasta Radio](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1492008134), 23 Feb 2025, 30 min.

Audio: https://dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/api.spreaker.com/download/episode/64472049/i_sent_a_valentine_s_letter_to_my_husband_s_office_i_don_t_know_who_wrote_back_creepypasta.mp3

CREEPYPASTA STORY►by Frequent-Cat: / i_sent_a_valentines_letter_to_my_husbands_... Creepypastas are the campfire tales of the internet. Horror stories spread through Reddit r/nosleep, forums and blogs, rather than word of mouth. Whether you believe these scary stories to be true or not is left to your own discretion and imagination. LISTEN TO CREEPYPASTAS ON THE GO- SPOTIFY► https://open.spotify.com/show/7l0iRPd... iTUNES► https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast... SUGGESTED CREEPYPASTA PLAYLISTS- ►"Good Places to Start"- • "I wasn't careful enough on the deep ... ►"Personal Favourites"- • "I sold my soul for a used dishwasher... ►"Written by me"- • "I've been Blind my Whole Life" Creep... ►"Long Stories"- • Long Stories FOLLOW ME ON- ►Twitter: / creeps_mcpasta ►Instagram: / creepsmcpasta ►Twitch: / creepsmcpasta ►Facebook: / creepsmcpasta CREEPYPASTA MUSIC/ SFX- ►http://bit.ly/Audionic ♪ ►http://bit.ly/Myuusic ♪ ►http://bit.ly/incompt ♪ ►http://bit.ly/EpidemicM ♪ This creepypasta is for entertainment purposes only

## Transcript

[0:01] Speaker 1: I've always believed in small gestures, the little things that
[0:05] Speaker 1: remind someone you'd love them, even in the middle of
[0:08] Speaker 1: a hectic, stressful life. My husband Daniel worked long hours
[0:14] Speaker 1: at a law firm, and I knew how exhausting it
[0:17] Speaker 1: could be for him. He'd come home late most nights,
[0:21] Speaker 1: rolling his shoulders, loosening his tie, pressing a quick tied
[0:25] Speaker 1: kiss to my forehead before collapsing on to the couch.
[0:30] Speaker 1: It wasn't that he was an affectioner, he really was,
[0:34] Speaker 1: but his job pulled all the energy out of him,
[0:38] Speaker 1: and I hated seeing the exhaustion in his eyes. So
[0:43] Speaker 1: for Valentine's Day, I decided to do something small, nothing extravagant,
[0:49] Speaker 1: nothing over the top, just a handwritten letter, something that
[0:54] Speaker 1: would make him smile in the middle of his long day,
[0:57] Speaker 1: maybe remind him that no matter how difficult work got,
[1:01] Speaker 1: he had something good waiting for him at home. I
[1:05] Speaker 1: spent longer then i'd like to admit, writing it, curling
[1:09] Speaker 1: off on the couch with a warm blanket and a
[1:11] Speaker 1: glass of wine, tapping my pen against my chin as
[1:15] Speaker 1: I thought of the right words. I wrote about the
[1:18] Speaker 1: first time we met, the awkward, fumbling early days, of
[1:22] Speaker 1: our relationship, the late night talks that stretched into early mornings.
[1:27] Speaker 1: I wrote about how grateful I was for him, how
[1:30] Speaker 1: much I loved the life we had built together. Even
[1:34] Speaker 1: threw in a few of our inside jokes, the stupid
[1:37] Speaker 1: jokes that made no sense to anyone else, but had
[1:40] Speaker 1: us gasping for breath from laughing too hard. When I
[1:45] Speaker 1: was satisfied, I folded the letter neatly, placed it in
[1:49] Speaker 1: a pink envelope, and sealed it with a kiss. The
[1:54] Speaker 1: next morning, I made sure to stop by his office
[1:57] Speaker 1: on my way to work. His law firm was an
[2:00] Speaker 1: older building, one of those places with too much marble
[2:04] Speaker 1: and not enough personality, But the receptionist at the front
[2:08] Speaker 1: desk was friendly enough. She told me to place the
[2:12] Speaker 1: envelope in the mailbox just outside the building. She smiled, nodded,
[2:18] Speaker 1: and I told her to have a great day. That evening,
[2:23] Speaker 1: Daniel came home as usual, tired but smiling just like always.
[2:30] Speaker 1: He dropped his bag by the door, loosened his tie,
[2:33] Speaker 1: kissed me hello. We had dinner together, talking about our day,
[2:39] Speaker 1: well mostly his day. He didn't mention the letter, but
[2:45] Speaker 1: I didn't bring it up either. Maybe he hadn't gotten
[2:48] Speaker 1: around to reading it yet. Maybe he wanted to save
[2:51] Speaker 1: it for later. I figured i'd hear about it soon enough.
[2:58] Speaker 1: But the next morning, before I even had time to
[3:00] Speaker 1: get out of bed, I heard the sound of the
[3:03] Speaker 1: mail slot opening. The usual stack of letters slid on
[3:07] Speaker 1: to the floor, the soft thump barely registering in my
[3:11] Speaker 1: half asleep mind. For a second, I smiled, Daniel must
[3:19] Speaker 1: have written back. It wasn't like him, he'd always been
[3:24] Speaker 1: more of a talker than a writer. But maybe my
[3:27] Speaker 1: little Valentine surprise had inspired him. I sat up, rubbing
[3:32] Speaker 1: the sleep from my eyes, and made my way over
[3:35] Speaker 1: to the mailbox. I tore the envelope open and pulled
[3:39] Speaker 1: out the letter. It was written on the same stationary
[3:43] Speaker 1: I had used, the same smooth off white paper, the
[3:47] Speaker 1: same faintly embossed edges. At first, it was sweet. I
[3:57] Speaker 1: got your letter. Thank you, my love. It means more
[4:00] Speaker 1: to me than you know. You always know how to
[4:03] Speaker 1: make me smile always. For a moment I felt a
[4:10] Speaker 1: rush of warmth. But then I read the next line.
[4:17] Speaker 1: I need you to listen carefully. This is important. I
[4:21] Speaker 1: don't know who has been coming home to you every night.
[4:26] Speaker 1: I froze. I felt the ghost of a shudder ripple
[4:29] Speaker 1: through me, forcing myself to keep reading. My hands suddenly
[4:33] Speaker 1: clammy against the paper. I haven't left the office in months.
[4:38] Speaker 1: I don't know what's happened. I don't know how, but
[4:42] Speaker 1: something is pretending to be me. I let the paper
[4:46] Speaker 1: slip from my fingers. I sat there, staring at the
[4:50] Speaker 1: letter in my hands, my breath coming slow and uneven.
[4:55] Speaker 1: The words blurred in front of me, my mind's scrambling
[4:59] Speaker 1: for any rational explanation. It had to be a joke,
[5:05] Speaker 1: a cruel, elaborate prank. Someone at Daniel's office must have
[5:09] Speaker 1: found my letter, copied his handwriting, and sent this back
[5:13] Speaker 1: to mess with me, maybe even Daniel himself. Though I
[5:17] Speaker 1: didn't understand why he'd do something so strange, and yet
[5:24] Speaker 1: my skin prickled with unease. I forced a laugh under
[5:29] Speaker 1: my breath, shaking my head. It was absurd, completely ridiculous. Still,
[5:37] Speaker 1: when I heard him stir in the bedroom, when I
[5:40] Speaker 1: heard the faint sound of sheets rustling and the floor
[5:43] Speaker 1: creaking under his weight, something in me hesitated. Just for
[5:48] Speaker 1: a moment. I folded the letter, slipped it back into
[5:52] Speaker 1: the envelope, and shoved it into my purse before heading
[5:56] Speaker 1: to the kitchen to make coffee. Trying to shake off
[5:59] Speaker 1: the unease, I walked into the kitchen and reached for
[6:03] Speaker 1: the matches. We had one of those odd gas stoves,
[6:07] Speaker 1: the kind way you had to turn the knob and
[6:09] Speaker 1: light the burning yourself. It had been finicky for years,
[6:13] Speaker 1: sometimes requiring two or three tries before the flame would catch.
[6:18] Speaker 1: By the time Daniel walked into the kitchen, rolling his
[6:21] Speaker 1: shoulders and rubbing her hand through his hair, I'd convinced
[6:25] Speaker 1: myself that I was being ridiculous morning, he murmured, pressing
[6:31] Speaker 1: a quick kiss to my temple. I twisted the knob
[6:35] Speaker 1: and the familiar hiss of gas filled the air. The
[6:39] Speaker 1: smell was sharp, pungent, but I struck the match anyway,
[6:43] Speaker 1: letting the tiny flame flicker to life between my fingers. Then,
[6:48] Speaker 1: with a quick motion, I brought it to the burner.
[6:52] Speaker 1: The fire flared up instantly, a small bush of heat,
[6:56] Speaker 1: a soft burst of orange and blue. As the gas
[6:59] Speaker 1: finally caught, the kitchen was filled with the quiet crackle
[7:03] Speaker 1: of the flame settling, the warmth spreading outward. And that's when,
[7:10] Speaker 1: for some reason, Daniel flinched, not just the small, startled twitch,
[7:18] Speaker 1: but a sharp, full bodied jerk. His shoulders tensed, his
[7:23] Speaker 1: hands curled slightly at his sides, and for a fraction
[7:27] Speaker 1: of a second, his eyes weren't on me. Are you okay?
[7:33] Speaker 1: I asked, casually, glancing at him over my shoulder. He blinked,
[7:38] Speaker 1: the stiffness in his body vanishing as quickly as it
[7:41] Speaker 1: had come. Yeah, he said, his voice smooth, just spaced
[7:48] Speaker 1: out for a second. I searched his face, his movements,
[7:53] Speaker 1: the little details of him, the way his lips felt
[7:56] Speaker 1: warm against my skin, the familiar sound of his bare
[8:00] Speaker 1: feet patting against the tile, the casual way he leaned
[8:03] Speaker 1: against the counter as he took his first sip of coffee.
[8:08] Speaker 1: This was Daniel, my husband. I was letting my imagination
[8:14] Speaker 1: get the best of me. But still, hey, I said,
[8:21] Speaker 1: forcing my voice to sound light, teasing. You didn't leave
[8:25] Speaker 1: me a love letter back? Ha, He raised an eyebrow
[8:29] Speaker 1: midsip love letter, I hesitated the one I left at
[8:35] Speaker 1: your office. For a split second, just the fraction of
[8:41] Speaker 1: a moment. His expression didn't change. Then too quickly he smiled,
[8:50] Speaker 1: Oh yeah, sorry, I'm meant to say something that was
[8:54] Speaker 1: really sweet. I forced myself to smile. Did you like it,
[9:01] Speaker 1: of course, he said, taking another sip of coffee. Best
[9:05] Speaker 1: part of my day. I nodded, pretending to be satisfied
[9:10] Speaker 1: with his answer, but I knew he was lying. If
[9:16] Speaker 1: he had actually read the letter, he would have said
[9:19] Speaker 1: something about the inside jokes, about the memories I'd written down,
[9:23] Speaker 1: about any of the personal details that made the letter special.
[9:28] Speaker 1: That's what he had always done. Some of our inside
[9:31] Speaker 1: jokes were played simply because he had mentioned them so much,
[9:35] Speaker 1: and he loved it when I brought them up myself.
[9:40] Speaker 1: I swallowed hard, glancing down at my phone. Work. I
[9:45] Speaker 1: had to get to work. I had to let this go.
[9:51] Speaker 1: That evening, we sat on the couch watching TV, just
[9:55] Speaker 1: like we always did. The warmth of his body was familiar,
[10:00] Speaker 1: his arm draped lazily over the back of the couch,
[10:03] Speaker 1: fingers grazing my shoulder. To anyone else, it would have
[10:08] Speaker 1: seemed perfectly normal, perfectly safe. But the letter sat heavy
[10:15] Speaker 1: in my purse, the words echoing in my head. I
[10:20] Speaker 1: couldn't stop thinking about it. So after a while I
[10:26] Speaker 1: turned to him with a grin, keeping my voice light.
[10:31] Speaker 1: Hey remember when we first met, He blinked, caught off guard.
[10:39] Speaker 1: You're testing me, he asked, laughing softly. Maybe I teased,
[10:45] Speaker 1: nudging his arm. Come on, you better remember, he smarked,
[10:51] Speaker 1: tilting his head like he was thinking. Who was in college? Right?
[10:57] Speaker 1: Second year? I remember these things, you know this June
[11:02] Speaker 1: twenty eighth, I felt my chest tightened. My husband was
[11:09] Speaker 1: forgetful with date. That much I knew, But I knew
[11:14] Speaker 1: this specific date was important to him. In fact, it
[11:18] Speaker 1: was such an important date he dinked it into his skin.
[11:23] Speaker 1: I forced out an exaggerated gasp, smacking his arm playfully.
[11:28] Speaker 1: Of course, you remember, he didn't glance down, he didn't laugh,
[11:36] Speaker 1: He just smiled at me. Now I knew for certain
[11:42] Speaker 1: that this wasn't my husband. Tomorrow, I had to get out.
[11:52] Speaker 1: The next morning, I did everything exactly the same. I
[11:57] Speaker 1: woke up before him, brewed the coffee, kissed them on
[12:00] Speaker 1: the cheek, and told him I had a long day ahead.
[12:04] Speaker 1: He smiled at me, like always a perfect, effortless thing,
[12:09] Speaker 1: the way he always heard. He ran a hand through
[12:12] Speaker 1: his dark hair, sipped his coffee and told me to
[12:16] Speaker 1: have a good day. But as I grabbed my purse
[12:19] Speaker 1: and stepped outside, I forced myself not to hesitate. I
[12:25] Speaker 1: drove the same way I always did, following my morning route,
[12:29] Speaker 1: taking the usual turns, sticking to routine just in case.
[12:34] Speaker 1: But once I was out of sight of the house,
[12:37] Speaker 1: I turned the opposite direction. Instead of heading toward my office,
[12:43] Speaker 1: I drove straight to Daniel's law firm, gripping the steering
[12:46] Speaker 1: wheel so tightly my fingers ached. I don't know exactly
[12:53] Speaker 1: what I was expecting. Maybe to walk into the building
[12:56] Speaker 1: seam at his desk, laughing with his coworkers, proving that
[13:00] Speaker 1: this was all just some elaborate misunderstanding, that the letter
[13:04] Speaker 1: had been a joke, a mistake, something stupid and explainable.
[13:10] Speaker 1: Maybe I wanted to see the normality of his workspace,
[13:13] Speaker 1: to remind myself that the man who came home to
[13:16] Speaker 1: me every night really was my husband. But deed down,
[13:24] Speaker 1: I already knew that wouldn't happen. The receptionist looked up
[13:29] Speaker 1: at me from behind the desk. Hi, I said, forcing
[13:34] Speaker 1: a smile, and just dropping by to see my husband.
[13:40] Speaker 1: The woman's brow knitted together slightly, and for a moment
[13:44] Speaker 1: she just looked at me as if I had said
[13:47] Speaker 1: something confusing, something she couldn't quite make sense of. Then
[13:52] Speaker 1: after a beat, she gave me a small, gentle smile.
[13:57] Speaker 1: One I immediately hated. What's your husband's name, she said,
[14:04] Speaker 1: her gaze fixed on the monitor in front of her, Daniel.
[14:08] Speaker 1: I muttered, oh, honey, she said softly. He hasn't been
[14:14] Speaker 1: here in weeks. The words felt like a slap. My
[14:22] Speaker 1: breath stole in my throat, my heart stuttering violently against
[14:26] Speaker 1: my ribs. My fingers tightened around the strap of my purse.
[14:32] Speaker 1: What do you mean that there has to be some mistake?
[14:37] Speaker 1: He works here, he comes in every day. The receptionist's
[14:42] Speaker 1: face shifted slightly, uncertainty flickering behind her eyes. She hesitated,
[14:49] Speaker 1: then let out a slow breath. I. I'm sorry, but
[14:55] Speaker 1: no one's seen him in a long time. You thought
[14:58] Speaker 1: maybe he took another job and just never told us
[15:01] Speaker 1: his things are still here. But she shook her head.
[15:06] Speaker 1: I really don't think he's been in. Something in me
[15:12] Speaker 1: felt like it was folding in on itself. My vision
[15:15] Speaker 1: narrowed slightly, as if the entire world had tilted sideways,
[15:19] Speaker 1: and I was struggling to stay upright. Can I can
[15:24] Speaker 1: I see his office? I asked. The receptionist gave me
[15:30] Speaker 1: another uncertain glance, but nodded. She led me down the hallway,
[15:36] Speaker 1: past the rows of desks, past the open offices where
[15:40] Speaker 1: people typed away their computers, where conversations hummed in the background.
[15:46] Speaker 1: All of it normal, all of it completely detached from
[15:50] Speaker 1: the fact that something in my life had cracked open
[15:54] Speaker 1: into something monstrous. We stopped in front of a lock
[15:59] Speaker 1: storage room. She hesitated, placing her hand on the handle,
[16:04] Speaker 1: as if she wasn't sure she should be showing me this. Then,
[16:09] Speaker 1: in a quiet voice, she said, his things are still inside.
[16:14] Speaker 1: We thought he'd just quit one day and never told anyone.
[16:19] Speaker 1: My stomach felt hollow. The woman turned the knob and
[16:25] Speaker 1: the door creaked open. Inside everything was untouched. His work
[16:33] Speaker 1: bag sat on the chair, the straps slightly askew, like
[16:37] Speaker 1: he had tossed it there with the intention of picking
[16:39] Speaker 1: it up again. Soon. His coat hung on the wall,
[16:43] Speaker 1: neatly pressed, not a single sign of dust or rage.
[16:47] Speaker 1: On the desk, a pile of unopened males sat undisturbed.
[16:54] Speaker 1: I stepped forward slowly, the air thick around me, pressing
[16:59] Speaker 1: down on my shoulders like a weight I couldn't shake.
[17:04] Speaker 1: And then I saw it, A single sheet of paper
[17:08] Speaker 1: placed neatly in the center of the desk. My name
[17:13] Speaker 1: was written on the top. My hands shook as I
[17:17] Speaker 1: reached for it. The moment I touched it, I knew
[17:23] Speaker 1: the handwriting was his. If you're reading this, I'm still here.
[17:32] Speaker 1: Something else took my place. It knows everything I know.
[17:36] Speaker 1: It acts like me, but it isn't me. I don't
[17:40] Speaker 1: know how long I have left. I messed with something
[17:43] Speaker 1: I shouldn't. It's afraid of fire. I love you. My
[17:53] Speaker 1: vision blurred slightly. I wanted to collapse, to let the
[17:57] Speaker 1: panic finally crash over me, to break down the way
[18:00] Speaker 1: my body was begging me to. But I didn't, because
[18:07] Speaker 1: now I knew it wasn't about understanding what had happened.
[18:12] Speaker 1: It wasn't about figuring out where Daniel had gone or
[18:15] Speaker 1: what had taken his place. It was about stopping it.
[18:23] Speaker 1: I folded the note carefully, sliding it into my pocket.
[18:27] Speaker 1: Then without another word, I turned and walked out of
[18:31] Speaker 1: the office. I wasn't going to run. I was going
[18:37] Speaker 1: to burn it alive. The house was dark when I
[18:45] Speaker 1: pulled into the driveway, its windows staring back at me
[18:49] Speaker 1: like empty eyes. The porch light was on, casting a
[18:53] Speaker 1: soft glow across the steps, and for a split second
[18:59] Speaker 1: everything looked to normal. But the moment I stepped inside,
[19:06] Speaker 1: I knew it was waiting for me. It stood in
[19:13] Speaker 1: the center of the living room, perfectly still, its hands
[19:17] Speaker 1: resting at its side. The expression on his face was
[19:21] Speaker 1: one of casual curiosity. But there was something wrong with it,
[19:26] Speaker 1: something in the way the corners of its mouth stretched
[19:29] Speaker 1: just a little too wide, the way its eyes followed
[19:32] Speaker 1: me without blinking. Where have you been, it asked Daniel's voice.
[19:42] Speaker 1: I forced the smile, shrugging as I shut the door
[19:45] Speaker 1: behind me. Nowhere important. It didn't respond right away, It
[19:53] Speaker 1: just watched. The air felt heavy, thick with the weight
[19:59] Speaker 1: of what I I knew was coming. Every instinct in
[20:03] Speaker 1: my body screamed at me to run, but I didn't.
[20:08] Speaker 1: I couldn't. I had to see this through. So I
[20:15] Speaker 1: walked past it, moving toward the kitchen, my pulse hammering
[20:19] Speaker 1: against my ribs. Its head turned slightly as I moved.
[20:25] Speaker 1: You were acting different tonight, it murmured, I laughed, softly,
[20:31] Speaker 1: keeping my voice light. Long day The thing smiled at that.
[20:40] Speaker 1: I clenched my jaw, pushing down the growing nausea, curling
[20:43] Speaker 1: in my stomach. I couldn't let it sense my fear.
[20:49] Speaker 1: Not yet. I made it to the kitchen without breaking
[20:54] Speaker 1: my stride. The bottle of whiskey was already within reach,
[20:58] Speaker 1: sitting on the counter where we always kept it. I
[21:02] Speaker 1: grabbed it. The thing's smiled didn't falter, but something changed,
[21:09] Speaker 1: a shift in its posture, a slight tilt of the head,
[21:14] Speaker 1: and then, in a voice that was almost concerned, and asked,
[21:19] Speaker 1: what are you doing. I didn't answer. I unscrewed the cap,
[21:26] Speaker 1: turned the bottle over and poured. The dark liquid splashed
[21:33] Speaker 1: across the floor, soaking the old wooden panels, spreading in
[21:37] Speaker 1: uneven puddles toward the living room. The smell of alcohol
[21:40] Speaker 1: filled the air, sharp and potent. The thing's expression finally faltered,
[21:48] Speaker 1: its voice darkened. Stop. I didn't. I reached into my
[21:56] Speaker 1: pocket and pulled out the lighter. The click of the
[21:59] Speaker 1: flute wheels sounded deafening In the silence, A single flame
[22:04] Speaker 1: flickered to life. The thing's mouth twisted into something unnatural.
[22:11] Speaker 1: I couldn't help but flinch. You don't want to do that,
[22:16] Speaker 1: it said, softly, But I did. I flicked my wrist,
[22:23] Speaker 1: dropped the flame and the fire irrupted. The fire searched forward,
[22:32] Speaker 1: swallowing the floor in hungry waves, licking up the walls
[22:35] Speaker 1: with greedy fingers. It rushed outward, creeping up anything in sight.
[22:41] Speaker 1: Heat exploded against my skin, and in the middle of
[22:45] Speaker 1: it all, the thing screamed in rage. Its body convulsed,
[22:53] Speaker 1: twisting violently, as if something beneath the surface was trying
[22:58] Speaker 1: to break free. Its skin peeled away in strips, revealing
[23:03] Speaker 1: something underneath that wasn't flesh blackened, the bandages stretched, elongating,
[23:10] Speaker 1: writhing like smoke. Its hands curled into a strange amalgamation
[23:15] Speaker 1: of shapes and colors, skeletal in nature but not quite
[23:20] Speaker 1: the suggestion of her head buckled and cracked, folding in
[23:24] Speaker 1: on itself, the remnants of its features disassembly like shattered porcelain.
[23:31] Speaker 1: It lunged at me. I stumbled backward, barely dodging as
[23:37] Speaker 1: one of its limbs whipped toward me, missing by inches.
[23:41] Speaker 1: The fire spread fast, swallowing the walls, curling around the windows,
[23:46] Speaker 1: devouring the curtains. The heat was unbearable, now choking the air,
[23:52] Speaker 1: stealing my breath. The house was collapsing. I turned and ran.
[24:01] Speaker 1: I didn't stop not when the walls groaned and cracked,
[24:04] Speaker 1: not when the ceiling above me shuddered. The front door
[24:08] Speaker 1: was only a few steps away. I could make it.
[24:13] Speaker 1: Behind me, the thing was screaming, but I didn't look back.
[24:19] Speaker 1: I threw myself outside, hitting the pavement hard, rolling onto
[24:23] Speaker 1: my side, gasping for air. As the heat roared behind me.
[24:29] Speaker 1: I lifted my head just in time to see the
[24:32] Speaker 1: roof cave in, flames bursting through the structure, sending embers
[24:37] Speaker 1: flying into the night. The fire consumed everything, turning my
[24:44] Speaker 1: home into nothing more than a funeral pyre for whatever
[24:48] Speaker 1: had taken Daniel's place, and the thing inside kept screaming
[24:56] Speaker 1: until finally silence. For a long time, all I could
[25:06] Speaker 1: hear was the fire. The flames hissed and crackled, devouring
[25:11] Speaker 1: what was left of my home, filling the air with thick,
[25:15] Speaker 1: choking smoke. The heat pulsed against my skin even from
[25:20] Speaker 1: a distance. I sat there on the pavement, my chest heaving,
[25:26] Speaker 1: my fingers digging into the ground, My body ate from
[25:30] Speaker 1: the fall, my lungs burned from the smoke. Movement, a
[25:39] Speaker 1: shuffling sound barely audible over the roar of the fire.
[25:44] Speaker 1: My stomach clenched as I whipped my head towards the house,
[25:48] Speaker 1: my breath catching in my throat. A shadow was moving
[25:53] Speaker 1: inside the flames, staggering. I froze, unable to breathe, unable
[26:02] Speaker 1: to move. My hands trembled as I pushed myself up
[26:06] Speaker 1: onto my knees, my entire body bracing for whatever was coming.
[26:12] Speaker 1: But then Daniel stepped forward. His clothes were scorched, his
[26:19] Speaker 1: face smeared with soot, his hair a mess of ash
[26:23] Speaker 1: and sweat. But his eyes, his eyes were his, the
[26:30] Speaker 1: same warm brown that I'd memorized a thousand times over
[26:35] Speaker 1: my real husband. I could tell at a glance. He
[26:41] Speaker 1: took one more shaky step before his knees buckled, his
[26:45] Speaker 1: body giving out, collapsing on to the pavement. I barely
[26:51] Speaker 1: had time to think before I was running to him,
[26:53] Speaker 1: my heart hammering against my ribs, my hands grabbing his shoulders,
[26:58] Speaker 1: his arms, his face. Tears blurred my vision as I
[27:02] Speaker 1: cupped his face, my fingers trembling against his skin. I
[27:06] Speaker 1: swallowed back the sob choking in my throat, forcing my
[27:10] Speaker 1: voice to be steady. For a moment, neither of us
[27:16] Speaker 1: said anything. His breath was weak, barely there. My grip
[27:21] Speaker 1: on him tightened desperation, clawing at my chest, but then
[27:29] Speaker 1: he smiled. College he rasped first the orientation Sarah introduced us.
[27:41] Speaker 1: His voice was hoarse, but sure you were wearing that
[27:45] Speaker 1: ugly red sweater. A sob broke from my lips. I
[27:53] Speaker 1: pulled him against me, burying my face into the crock
[27:56] Speaker 1: of his neck. Sobbing against his skin, clutched him like
[28:00] Speaker 1: if I let him go, he would disappear again. His
[28:04] Speaker 1: arms were weak, but he wrapped them around me anyway,
[28:07] Speaker 1: holding on with everything he had left. The house burned
[28:13] Speaker 1: behind us. The doctors said it was a miracle, minor burns, smoke,
[28:19] Speaker 1: in elation, nothing worse. I sat beside his hospital bed,
[28:27] Speaker 1: my fingers rapped tightly around his His hand was warm,
[28:31] Speaker 1: solid his Every so often my grip would tightened, just
[28:38] Speaker 1: to make sure he was still there, and every time
[28:43] Speaker 1: he would squeeze back. The first time he woke up,
[28:49] Speaker 1: he turned his head toward me, his eyes heavy with exhaustion,
[28:53] Speaker 1: but clear ay. He murmured, voice hoarse. I smiled, even
[29:02] Speaker 1: as my eyes stung with unshd tears. Hey. His lips
[29:08] Speaker 1: curved into a small, tired smile, you look like hell.
[29:16] Speaker 1: A laugh tumbled from my throat, shaky but genuine. Yer Well,
[29:24] Speaker 1: I sniffed, swiping and my eyes. So do you

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