Things of wood,
brought to fire,
with these objects I aspire.
Invitation I accept,
through the flames,
I have crept.
Bear me now,
bring me there,
fairy folk hear my prayer.
With those words Ella moved towards the fire, shaking and shivering with a perfect mixture of excitement and trepidation. She cast a single, lonely thought towards her father, the shadow in the dark, before focusing all her attention on the blaze. She opened herself to the heat and the thrill and the fear. She didn’t know what to expect on the other side.
The first step into the fire warmed her, it was a great relief as the flames grasped her ankles and engulfed her frozen feet. The second step was painful and her heart leapt towards the sky. What if she had been wrong? What if she was making a horrible mistake? The third step was so agonizing that she lost her sight. All she could do was keep moving forward, seeing nothing but bright, white light. After the fifth step her skin started to blister and bubble and the tenth saw muscle dripping from bone. At some point in her journey something deep inside told her that she should have crossed the fire and come out the other side, yet still she moved forward into the burning light. By the thirteenth step, she felt the great relief of feeling absolutely nothing at all.
***
Ella’s mother arrived home drunk, it was the only way to get through a night with her husband. In fact, it was the only way to get through life. She had left her husband at the bar, he had insisted on one more drink and she didn’t feel like it, not tonight. She stumbled into the kitchen and flicked on the light. She stood at the tap and watched her glass fill with water, running until it overflowed. Then she drank deeply, as though her thirst could never be quenched. She was parched. The clock struck two and the chime sounded different than usual but she didn’t bother to investigate because something else had captured her attention—a pile of glowing red embers in the backyard. She put the empty glass in the sink then stepped tentatively out the back door and into the bitter night.
***
The official report found traces of thirteen types of wood, bluebells, foxglove, cowslip and kerosene. Nothing more.