Heart of Fire | ONC 2020

1. burnt

Open Novella Contest 2020 - Prompt:

"Every time she lights a match, she escapes into a new world."

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Humanity knew their actions would inevitably have a devastating impact on the environment and the future of their species, yet they continued to exploit and poison the Earth.

Case in point: the city of Portsworth, located on the eastern coast of what used to be Ireland.

In Portsworth, everything was covered in soot. Dark smoke billowed from factories, leaving a thick coat on the buildings; if you ran your hand across any exterior wall, your palm would turn matte black. The people were also marred by the soot. During a shower, the water going down the drain often turned a darker shade of gray than it already was coming out of the faucet.

But it was more than skin deep. The people rarely smiled, roaming the streets in somber masks that matched their surroundings. It was difficult not to become depressed, given the circumstances of living in Portsworth for most residents.

At the outskirts of the city, a girl named Aera lived with her family. They teetered at the edge of severe poverty, facing the constant threat of homelessness and starvation. The next meal was always an uncertainty. It was not abnormal for kids to be put to work as soon as they were able to take instructions, and Aera was no exception. At the age of seven, she was pulled out of school to begin her first job at a textile factory to help support her family.

Ten years later, it was Aera's birthday. It had been years since she'd asked her parents about throwing a part or having cake like she'd seen in the old movies.

"Getting older is nothing to celebrate," her mother told her.

"You don't need a cake. Be thankful to have any food at all," her father added.

She'd learned not to ask.

But since seventeen was the age of adulthood in Portsworth, Aera wanted her birthday to be special, even if she had to be the one to make it special for herself.

So she collected wheat from the family's garden and crushed it into flour with a mortar and pestle. Over the course of weeks, she gradually took small, unnoticeable (she hoped) amounts of sugar from her mother's short supply in the kitchen. On the day of her birthday, she stole a goose's egg from her neighbor's coop. Then, with a panic, she realized that she couldn't bake the cake at home, for it would immediately reveal to her family that she had taken all of the ingredients without permission. So she threw the cake batter in a pan and ran to her friend Rosia's house.

Luckily, Rosia's father wasn't home, and her mother was kind enough to allow Aera to use their oven. Aera was secretly jealous of how sweet and loving Rosia's mother was compared to her own, but whenever she met Rosia's father, Aera quickly stopped envying her.

"It doesn't look like a cake," Aera said, eyeing the brown, hardened mass she'd just pulled from the oven.

"Maybe it'll taste better than it looks," Rosia said in an attempt to cheer up her friend. Aera moved in to cut a piece, but Rosia suddenly grabbed the pan and disappeared into another room without a word. Aera sighed and reluctantly followed her.

Rosia was in her bedroom, struggling to light a match. She turned to Aera and explained, "They always do it like this in the movies, with a candle." She continued her attempts to light the match, nearly burning her fingertips several times, until Aera got impatient and snatched the matchbook out of her hands. "You have to make a wish when you blow it out. But don't tell anyone what it is," Rosia instructed.

Aera already had a single wish on her mind, something that she'd wanted since she was a child: a better life. She wasn't certain exactly what that might entail, but she knew that she was deeply dissatisfied with her life as it was. She always had been.

On her first try, the match struck and the flame was alight. But, when Aera looked up, Rosia was no longer there. In fact, the entire house was no longer there. Her birthday cake was gone.

She stood alone in a field of lush prairie grass that tickled at her ankles. A warm gust of wind caressed her skin, and when she took a deep breath, there was a surreal lightness in her lungs. It was the cleanest air she had ever inhaled. 

The sun was also different than she was used to. Instead of harsh rays that burned her skin in fewer than twenty minutes, it seemed to radiate a gentler, more comforting warmth. She closed her eyes, feeling an involuntarily smile forming on her lips. It wasn't her usual smile—one that she often plastered on her face to satisfy other people, like when her mother told her she looked ugly when she pouted (even though she didn't think she was pouting—that was just how she looked!). Instead, it was something pure and unstoppable bubbling up from within—true joy.

Aera began to move forward with slow, cautious steps. 

But then her vision became blurry and distorted. She felt the world begin to fade around her, and her heart sank. Fuzzy blackness, like a plume of smoke, crept into her periphery until it engulfed her entire field of view.

For a moment, she was certain she was falling—tumbling helplessly through empty space. But then her feet were suddenly planted on solid ground, though she lost her balance and fell backward at once.

"Are you okay?" Rosia asked, her eyes wide.

Aera stood up, brushing off her dress. She nodded, then gazed at Rosia with her most serious face and formed her words slowly and carefully. "I need you to tell me exactly what happened just now."

Rosia shook her head rapidly as if trying to gather herself. "It was weird. It felt like the lights went out on the world for a moment. Like the sun blinked," she responded.

Aera realized that the match was still in her hand, smoldering slightly. 

"Why, what do you think happened?" Rosia asked, yanking Aera's attention away from the suspicious match before her. 

She thought for a moment. "I think, maybe . . . my wish came true."

The girls were silent, staring at each other with bewilderment. 

"But you never even lit the candle!"

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author's note:

I'm having a bit of writer's block with my other story, so I thought I'd join the Open Novella Contest at the very last minute, sort of as a writing exercise. This was written in a couple of hours. I'm not going to overthink it or try to make it perfect. The aim is just to quickly write a lot of words and put them out there, which is kind of nerve-wracking for me. Idk what I'm doing

If you happen to read and enjoy it, I'd love if you would let me know by leaving a vote or a comment.