Fahrenheit 451: Alternate Plot

Chapter 1.

Montag didn't love Mildred. He never had. Deep down he knew this, but he pushed it to the back of his mind and ignored it. He married her because that's what you do. You get married and you provide for more televisions and your spouse becomes engulfed with the relatives. You don't have feelings because love sets you on fire with passion, and passion will free your mind and start a revolution. You stay married to someone for 10 years, but you never love them.
It's a bit humorous, it took a silly trick with a flower to make him realize this. Was it merely a coincidence? Or did the flower know? Was their society so messed up that the only things that could tell the truth were nonhuman. Maybe Clarisse was a flower. She was living and breathing and was her own source of energy. She didn't need anyone. She was independent and beautiful and strong and full of life.
What could he do about it? Nothing. You cannot leave your spouse. Leaving your spouse would show the government you knew something you shouldn't. It would ruin everything. God, everything was so messed up. How could he just be realizing this? The old man in the park, he tried to warn him. The ventilator... The old man... The words... Clarisse.... They were all calling out to him.

Montag walked outside. He looked at the sunset; it looked like fire. He wandered around aimlessly and found himself near Clarisse's house. She was standing in her yard, staring at the sky.
"It looks like fire. I like the way fire looks. Isn't it strange, though?Something so destructive can be so beautiful."
Like you, he thought.
"Destructive? The only thing it is destroying is books. Books don't matter. The people who read them are crazy." He did not want to change his mind yet.
"Do not play with me, Montag. I know your mind has changed. I can see it. Your eyes, they have a certain spark to them now. They were so dull before. Why are you wondering around out here? Should't you be talking to the relatives?"
It was uncanny how she knew exactly what he was thinking. Maybe she was a part him. A figment of his imagination, trying to send him a sign. What was the sign? Perhaps books are not evil and should not be burned, but this does not change anything, not really. He was just man, Montag, a hopeless fireman doing as he was told. He could not change anything even if he wanted to. Or could he? Clarisse... She had changed everything.

He walked back to his house. Mildred was in the bedroom, sea shells in place. He walked over to his dresser, picked up a frame that was completely covered in dust, and wiped it off. It was a picture from their wedding day. They do not even look remotely happy. Happiness, joy, love, all emotions were missing. Nothing. He had felt nothing. All he felt now was an all consuming fire inside his soul. He longed for something to fill the void inside of him. Well, for someone...