August 7, 2018
"Write about building a fire."
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How do we start a fire? With flint and tinder, a spark and splinter, all that is need to start a fire, and with wood or cloth, a little wind, and one would have a good roaring fire.
Surprising is it not, a simple action of rubbing two rough surfaces, the abrasive fiction causing a spark which is used to light a fire? A controlled tiny chemical reaction (red phosphorus on the striking strip and potassium chlorate on the match head) is capable of igniting a gigantic fire.
In modern days, with the advent of electricity and piped gas connections even match boxes seem to be going extinct, a click and the spark to light the gas is available.
However, in ancient times, starting a fire was not so easy and in the beginning it was so frightening that it was deified and worshiped (Agni - India; Ogun - Yoruba; Zhurong - China; Ney-Ank - Khanty; Jowangsin - Korea; Kagu-tsuchi - Japan; Odqan - Mongolia). While various cultures have worshipped fire the Greek have elevated the evolution of use of fire in their mythological tale of Prometheus, a titan who not only created man from clay but also defied the Gods by stealing fire and giving it to humanity.
Man's fascination with fire, his need and fear reflects also in the tales of fantasy, men and animals who breathed and controlled fire, elementals and animals; tales that hinged on the ease with which fire could be started and controlled.
Finally on a rhetorical note, a fire can also be started when envy strikes on insecurity; though to end it I would prefer these lines from a very famous song by Billy Joel:
"We didn't start the fire
It was always burning
Since the world's been turning
We didn't start the fire
No we didn't light it
But we tried to fight it"
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Word count 307
And this is another example of taking a literary licence - I have strayed as far as possible from the prompt.
YOU ARE READING
365 Days- Book I
AcakThis is my collection of writings for the three hundred and sixty five day writing challenge - where one has to write something daily, every day, for one whole year, based on the prompts provided - as part of an exercise to improve creative writing...
