Previous Challenge Entry (Level 4 – Masters)
Topic: Matchless (10/24/24)
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TITLE: Fire in the Winter | Previous Challenge Entry
By Lynae Fisher
10/29/24 -
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A child wandered alone, bundled up so tightly in thick wraps that she could scarcely move. Crawling across drift after drift, she struggled through the snow, sinking to her waist in the powder. She needed shelter desperately. Eyeing a large cleft in the south side of a rock, she struggled towards it.
Her feet moved like stiff wood. She tripped and stumbled. At last, she was out of the wind. The snow grew more shallow here. Soon, she was able to walk upright again. How she longed to rest, but she knew if she slept, she would never wake again. If only she could build a fire, she thought.
She leaned back against the wall of the cave. Her foot hit something. Kneeling down, she found an old, fallen tree, lined with dry branches. That would be perfect for building a fire, she thought. As quickly as she could muster, she broke off the branches and made a pile of dry wood for a fire. Now all she needed was a flame.
She checked her pockets as best as she could with cold, gloved hands. Nothing. Not so much as a bit of lent could she find. “Dear Lord, please help me start a fire,” she prayed.
Taking a couple of sticks, she tried to rub them together, but she could not do it. She was too cold.
Glancing up now and then, she noticed the river below seemed to be steaming. Maybe it was just her imagination.
Renewing her attempts to light the fire, she still could not get even the slightest hint of smoke or spark.
She heard a crack behind her—or thought she did. She paused and listened, then resumed her work.
“Please, Lord, help me,” she pleaded.
The sticks slipped out of her hands, too cold to hold them anymore. The slightest breath of wind blew on her. Surely, the wind was not changing directions. If it was, her shelter would not be much use. This wind did not seem as sharply cold, though. It was almost…warm.
As discouragement overtook her, she leaned against the side of the cave. Leaning her head back and looking towards the cave opening, she gasped. The light grew dim as a huge form loomed before her; crawling into the cave was the last thing she expected to see —especially here, and now. She slipped into the shadows.
The monster crept slowly into the cave. Its steps grew slower and slower as it came. Reptiles are cold blooded, she remembered. Perhaps it would get too cold to chase her, and she would be able to escape. On the other hand, she was almost too cold to move herself, and she would likely die if she left her shelter.
Dragging its long, thick tail into the cave, the monster raised up a little. With one powerful swipe of its enormous talons, it crunched up the fallen tree. Swinging its tail around, it swept the tree into a heap. She watched in terror as the creature inhaled deeply. Was it getting ready to eat her? She sat still as a stone. It did not look her way. Having drawn a full breath, it paused briefly and opened its mouth. Out of the monster’s mouth came a stream of fire that settled on the wood and set it ablaze like a giant torch.
Having finished its work, the dragon rolled over with its back to the fire. With a giant, smoky yawn, the dragon laid its head on the ground and closed its eyes in peaceful sleep.
At first, she remained still. Gradually mustering courage, she got up and moved towards the fire.
“Thank you, Lord,” she prayed looking up at the rock ceiling above her.
(fiction)
Psalms 8:3-4 (KJV) “When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained; What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him?”
Job 41:1,21 (KJV) “Canst thou draw out leviathan with an hook? or his tongue with a cord which thou lettest down? … His breath kindleth coals, and a flame goeth out of his mouth.”
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