Candle In The Flame

• Ruby-Rose Braddock, Grade 9
• Short Story
• 2022

Fire
Never has one word had the ability to mean so many things to so many people. For some it is a welcome heat that maintains life, for others, it is a force that can be used to burn their enemies and destroy their beliefs. For others, it is a chance for rebirth or a gateway to the next world.
For Luke, fire is mysterious, the answer to something unknown. A desire to touch it, smell it, look at it, courses through his veins. But he dare not. Luke is not like other children. Not bold and brash. What he is certain of, he’s an adventurer. Ready to take the plunge. Ready to enjoy and suffer, to discover and to learn. To do this he will first need an instrument, a tool.
A candle.
Where the candle is from, Luke will never know. He found it hidden in a tacky ribbon tied around a small glass container. Wrapped in golden foil. The scent lingers in Luke's nostrils. Fire. He ignores the feelings and gazes upon the candle. The wick stands proudly, the wax is in good condition, it gives off a soft glow. The smell is strong, emanating from the candle's body itself.
From Luke’s pocket, he retrieves a lighter his mother said had belonged to his father. Luke presses the button on the lighter, the flame springs to life. The body of the candle seizes in a blaze of silver light, red hot embers come out of the wick, dancing through the air. The smell of burning wood and oils fills his nostrils, he breathes in sharply. The candle does not falter, it burns easily and steadily.
Luke remembers the story told to him last time he dared to touch it. How his father was a scholar, a man with a desire to discover, to test the boundaries of the unknown just as Luke does now. Maybe when Luke blows out the candle, he will find him.
He gazes into the flame again, the wick is pure and black. The flame is concentrated within it, a heat he can feel without even touching it. It reminds Luke of the fires of war. His mind begins to imagine the fear he saw in his father. The day the world changed for him. He had been told that when he became an adult, he would be told the truth and that he just had to wait for it.
Luke looks at the candle, the flames flicker slightly, casting the glass pitcher into what looks like a lava-filled volcano. He has never been told of the war, but he imagines a place with lava and black scorched earth. He shakes his head, afraid of the thought. Luke doesn't understand the smell of the wick, it is smoky, almost sweet. He places the candle on the table in front of himself with the lighter.
Luke closes his eyes and pretends that his father is watching him from out of the shadows. He gives Luke a slight nod.
He blows out the candle.