Write a short piece of fiction from the point of view of an unreliable narrator.

“Today is a great day for CAL Fire and the Autism community! Probationary firefighters Rhiannon Lacey and Ashton Parker swore onto the CAL Fire department and in doing so, these courageous young folks have made history by becoming the first openly autistic people to be sworn onto CAL Fire…”

Autistic firefighters. Autistic CAL Fire firefighters, none the less.

It’s all a gimmick. CAL Fire is swearing in autistic kids as firefighters to make the organization look good. That’s all. Fine, slap the title of “firefighter” onto them. Hand them a broom and have them sweep up around the station…but if they let them put one damn foot on the fireline, I’ll riot, and I hope the rest of the country will. The Camp Fire this past November was the worst in the history of the state, hundreds are dead, even more are still missing, the state is still suffering, we need firefighters with heads on their shoulders in the wake of all this. And, like they’re laughing at us, they swear in two autistic kids who are going to go to pieces and get the entire damn crew killed-just to make themselves look good. This is like an F you to the families who lost their homes and all their possessions in the fires, not to mention loved ones. Well guess what CAL Fire. You’re starting to lose my respect.

And on top of it all…MY KID’S HEADING OUT TO CALIFORNIA TO WORK AS A WILDLAND FIREFIGHTER. What if he ends up on the same fire assignment as these two? They’re going to get him killed!

I grab my phone and dial Taylor. I’ve got to hear his voice.

Taylor answers on the third ring. “Hey dad. What’s up?” he asks.

I exhale. “Hey, dude. Look, I’m watching the news, and I’m seeing the stories about the two autistic kids CAL Fire just swore in. I’m telling you right now, if they let those two put one foot on the fireline…seriously, they’re going to get the whole crew killed.”

“Dad”-Taylor says, but I cut him off.

“I’m really worried about you, dude. If they try to put you on the same fire assignment as one of those two, you know you have the right to refuse”-

“DAD”-but I cut him off again.

“I am your father, and I think I have the right to worry about your safety! Those two are going to get everyone killed!”

“DAD!” Taylor roars. “What if I told you…that fire assignment in Oregon I worked on last summer. Rhiannon and Ashton were both on my crew!”

Did I just hear him right? “WHAT?” I roared.

“Yeah! I know Rhiannon Lacey and Ashton Parker! I fought fires with them-they’re the most dedicated, hardworking firefighters I’ve ever seen, and Captain White gave them the recommendations to get on CAL Fire! Said that if CAL Fire didn’t take them, they’re insane because they’re two of the best firefighters he’s ever seen! And you know how long he’s been fighting fires? Quite a few years!”

There was a pregnant pause. Then I let out a breath. “Prove it,” I proclaim.

“Sure thing. Gimme a sec.” The phone goes quiet for about a minute, then I receive a text.

It’s a photo. Of Taylor and a tall, gangly kid laughing together, both in green and yellow wildland fire PPE, covered in soot and beaming at the camera. Yep. That’s the kid from TV. That’s Parker. The message underneath the picture is, “Ashton’s the greatest guy you’ll ever hope to meet. We hung out all the time and the only thing he’s going to get me killed at is Call of Duty. By the way, he has an IQ of 200 and once he’s retired from firefighting he wants to go into nuclear science.”

The next picture was of a smirking girl with long auburn hair wearing PT sweats, holding up a soccer ball, with my kid standing in the background with a fake dejected look on his face.

“And the only thing Rhiannon’s going to kill me at is soccer. She pounded my ass into the ground-and I played varsity. She’s brilliant too.”

I stare at the texts for a minute, trying to think of a comeback for Taylor. But none comes to mind. He wins. Damn, that kid is smart.