First Shift
a competitive entry
“This is a nice, simple Cardiac event. Easy first call, new guy,” Ethan’s lieutenant said as they turned off the sirens outside a dusty apartment block.
“Your first call will fuck you. You either carry on like a man or turn in your badge.”
Ethan’s father always left the same message with his voice raspy from hard smoking and harder living. Thirty-seven years of fire prevention service earned his father enough chest hair to rival a gorilla.
When Ethan received his acceptance to the Fire Academy? Same message.
When Ethan stood on the graduation dais in his dress blues? Same message.
Ethan never answered. His father was also a prick who beat Ethan’s mom and knew how to hide the bruises.
The chair in the apartment corner rocked back and forth, back and forth.
Ethan’s breath caught in his chest. There was no fooling himself that their patient was sleeping—the gently bubbling foam dotting the once proud, now gray, mustache dissuaded such notions. How long his father lived in this dingy apartment, Ethan didn’t know.
”Shit. Load him up, and…sorry kid.”
His father almost looked happy rocking there. The asshole didn’t deserve a last laugh.
***
Seven years later, Ethan swiped into Heller & Associates.
“Ah, Ethan,” Mr. Heller said, warmly, attentively. “There’s a tough custody battle on your desk. I want you to lead it. The first one can be tough, but I’ll help you through it.”
His dad had been right, in a way—some things Ethan wasn’t man enough for.
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A/N:
My summer WB entry. Didn't place as I wanted but am still proud of it.
If you've enjoyed this, please leave a like and an insight below. If you really enjoyed this, tips to fuel my coffee addiction are always appreciated. All formatting is designed for desktops. Want to read more? Below are the best of the very best of my works:
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About the Creator
Matthew J. Fromm
Full-time nerd, history enthusiast, and proprietor of arcane knowledge.
Here there be dragons, knights, castles, and quests (plus the occasional dose of absurdity).
I can be reached at [email protected]
Reader insights
Outstanding
Excellent work. Looking forward to reading more!
Top insights
Excellent storytelling
Original narrative & well developed characters
Heartfelt and relatable
The story invoked strong personal emotions
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More stories from Matthew J. Fromm and writers in Fiction and other communities.
Past Lives
War made for odd couples. To Private Jim Mclellan, Sepp seemed a good man; better at least than some of the monsters he heard stories of deeper into the Reich. Real monsters. This Sepp almost reminded Jim of his uncle; the one from Wisconsin he met a few times at Weddings.
By Matthew J. FrommExclusive • 10 months ago
Comments (16)
Life deals lemons and good stuff. We take them all. Congrats.
Circling back around to say congrats on fourth place on the weekly leaderboard Matthew!!! 🎉
Wooohooooo congratulations on your Leaderboard placement! 🎉💖🎊🎉💖🎊
Definitely had me hooked from the jump talking about emergency services 😆 What was the challenge for this one?
Congrats on Top Story! So many layers of emotion here. Generational trauma is real and shapes who you are as a person. Great work.
It's a great entry. <3 Really enjoyed it <3 Congrats on the TS, Matt <3
Wow... This hit so hard for me Matthew!! Sorry for not winning but Top Story is a decent consolation prize!! Congrats!!
I thought you did a wonderful job ringing out the emotions and letting the character grow, it just have to be stoic in order to prove the dad wrong
Congratulations on your Top Story—so well-deserved for such a haunting and powerful piece!
Well, it's not the WB prize, but so glad you earned a TS! Heather's story got a 5. I got a measly 3 😒 😅. Oh well, there's more battles where that one came from. Congrats, buddy!
Congratulations on your Top Story! It's great to see this get some recognition.
Back to say congrats, bud! Well deserved TS!
This still reads like one of your best stories. So much emotion, such a deep understanding of generational trauma, all wrapped into a short piece with a tough set of cards. Hope Johann gives this a Top Story - WB judges were fucking idiots for not spotting the literary genius in this. I know I'm biased but it doesn't mean I'm wrong.
You packed a lot of emotion and layers into a very short story. I find it interesting how many stories I've read recently (including one I wrote) that revolve around an abusive man. Strange.
So much packed into such a short story. Makes me wonder if Ethan can relate to the custody battle from the child’s perspective, or if his parents stayed together despite the abuse. Nicely done.
You should be proud of this, those are three tough topics to add into any story. Keep on writing