By Adam Perlson
Charlie chased fire trucks, running at full speed or furiously pedaling his banana bike.
When Charlie turned sixteen, he joined the volunteer fire department. He didn’t play sports or do very well in school. He happily spent all his time at the fire station.
“I’m having trouble breathing,” was the last thing they heard Charlie say into his walkie-talkie. He’d gotten separated from his crew in all the smoke. The fire had been set as an insurance scam.
Charlie never got to be an adult. But he did, though briefly, live out his childhood dream. That has to be worth something.
Short, poignant and moving!
Though short he lived his life his way. There’s a comfort in that.
Sad. Did he have dreams of dying in a fire? Of just dreams of fighting fires?