Candlelight–a short story

Hello, please enjoy this traumatized superhero Hanukkah story that I’m posting a day after Hanukkah is over, oops! Happy late Hanukkah. I don’t celebrate it, but I think it’s a really cool holiday.

Also I didn’t edit this story at all *cue deranged laughter*

Lucia leaned her head into Ezra’s shoulder, his wool sweater scratching against her cheek. He glanced down at her with an awkward smile and went back to sipping his hot cocoa.

The Christmas tree lights sparkled in the dim living room, and a lit menorah stood in the window—they celebrated both holidays, since she was a Christian and he a Jew. Warmth from the heater washed over them both. They sat together on the green couch, enjoying the rare moment of peace, one where Ezra did not have to be out fighting and where she was off work.

Or at least, they tried to. Ezra could not ease the tension from his shoulders, and she could barely breathe, sure that something was going to ruin the moment. Some supervillain was going to bash in the windows. He was going to get a text from his supervisor again. Or she was simply going to open her mouth and walk right into one of his triggers, and he would struggle to remember to breathe the whole night.

She leaned back. He copied her. Nothing was going to happen. They would be fine.

“I don’t really know how to do this,” he said, his voice quiet and hoarse. “Celebrating Hanukkah with my wife sounds easy, doesn’t it?”

“Yeah,” she agreed, studying the little bumps and knobs in the ceiling. “It does sound easy.” She shifted to better accommodate him. “A lot of things aren’t as easy for us as they should be. And it’s not our fault.”

He shrugged, munching a latke with his eyes closed. “I’m sorry,” he said. “This isn’t what you were expecting holidays to be like when you married me.”

“This is exactly what I expected,” she protested. “Ezra, I love you. I wouldn’t have married anyone else for the world.”

A smile tugged at the corners of his lips. “I love you too, Lucia,” he said.

“Then that’s all we need to celebrate Hanukkah. We’ll figure the rest out from there.”

She closed her eyes and leaned against his chest. This was peace. This was them, alone, away from the world and its prying eyes. Ezra’s heart, still functioning, beating away in his chest. She was still here, too. And whatever everyone else had taken from them, they had not been able to take their love for each other.

“I’m having a great Hanukkah,” she said, and it was true.

“I’m glad. I—I am too,” he said in surprise. He rested his hand on her head and exhaled.

They might not be there for next year, but they were here for this one.

Tell me what you think! Also this story is under 500 words. I’m usually so wordy.