Essay 3

Ben’jamin
Mr. H Salsich
English 9
28/09/10

When you are in the cold, surrounded by ice and snow, simply sitting and waiting, unable to go inside because you small nylon shelter has been berried by the drift, the zipper frozen shut, your Whisper Light stove empty of white gas, your hot chocolate turned solid, your nose clogged with ice, the only thing you want to do is split the logs in front of you to find the unfrozen center so you might start the fire that will keep you warm without melting your nylon cloths. When it comes down to it, the only thing that keeps you sane, and halts the flow of tears that would undoubtedly freeze on your cheeks is the thought of the fire that you would like to have, but don’t. The thought of a spark, keeps you going. When anywhere north or south of the equator during the spring, fall, summer, or winter, fire is your greatest friend.

I have always found that fire has an exotic way of entertaining me. The fires dance is so complex and orderly, but at the same time, so random. No one can name the colors that make up the flames decorations, the blue and white bottom surrounded by the blackened charcoal, braking up above into crimson fuel, the heart of the fire, then as your eyes continue to move up the roaring fire, the red melts into the yellow tips of the swords that fire swings about in beautiful anguish, throwing up a shower of orange sparks that twist and twirl in the air until they quickly go out all before you can blink an eye (long sentence (87 words). The colors are so different than everything else, especially against white snow. The movement of the inferno is also very intriguing. The fire wraps around itself in an endless loop. The sparks are constantly boogieing above us all. The heat of the fire draws us in. The artificial heat heats the body to unnatural temperate, but you feel cool because the side away from the fire remains cool so your core temperature remains balanced. However, the heat can heat us, dry us, give you light, and give you comfort. Conflagration has ways of drawing you in, and making you its friend.

A fire, just like any other friend, needs a home. The spark needs a place to stay warm against the cold; it needs walls of stone to keep out the wind and rain. The spark needs these walls of stone to wrap around it, shielding it from the wind. The wall of stone holds the umbrella to keep out the rain. The spark of the blaze needs to stay warm inside the fire’s heart, so the fire builds a shelter of wood to hold in the heat. The shelter of wood stops the warmth from leaving its safe home, and it keeps out the cold’s sharp knives from cutting in to the ropes leading to calescence. The shelter of wood also gives the blaze a constant stockpile of fuel to consume; feeding it, as if it were a child. The home is deep within the ground, low in the Earth, and concealed within the foliage. The fire sometimes gets bored of its home in the ground, and it tries to run away; The pit reaches up a hand of stone and catches the little spark before it gets past the birch of silver. The pit of stone, and Earth, and wood, keeps in the warmth and the blaze itself, and never lets go, just as an over protective parent squeezes its child before their first day of school, but the fire never leaves, and the home never lets go, but I guess that is ok in a family of fire. The home of fire is a peculiar home, a home very different, but not so far, from the home lived in by you and I.

Fire can be one of the greatest tools for a person. Fire can keep you warm and entertain you at the same time. Fire is a close friend, so you must take care of it, and take care of its home. No matter what, the orange blaze will always be there to take care of you.