My Love, My Friend, I Will Not Abandon You

“It was her home, and it was on fire.” Kate Greenstreet [Salt]

I don’t think she was ever given a name. Just presented as a possessive, so-and-so’s wife. They said she should serve as a warning. That she was rich. That she was greedy. Have you ever seen fire fall from the sky? Do as I say. It’s really that simple. But she disobeyed. Imagine a woman not worthy of having her name written down in a holy text having so much will to defy a command. She turned around. Saw flames licking the sky. Saw bodies on fire. Saw running bodies burning. Haven’t you ever had a friend that was a little naughty? That was a bit of a nonconformist? It would suck to turn around and see your friend on fire. Don’t turn around always felt like a cop-out so one could murder without a witness. But love is a powerful thing. I’d turn around too, so that my friend on fire could at least see the tears in my eyes. Could see me turn into a pilar of salt. Could see in the end I did not flee like a heartless thing but looked at my beloved city one last time and died weeping.