"Finality" and "Endurance"

My submissions for the Hint Fiction anthology were not selected for publication (the contributor list has some real heavy hitters, Stuart Dybek and Joyce Carol Oates among them) so here they are for your perusal and enjoyment.

Finality
Smoke rising to the sky, gray-black and eye-stinging, soon was all that remained of the cabin. Pocketing the matches, he walked away.

Endurance
The coffee's warmth failed to calm her this time, tasting only bitter. She shoved the mug away. It would end soon, she insisted silently.