Little Match Girl ~ a modern story

The little match girl

This story contains only one chapter. Feel free to correct my mistakes if I made them. (English is not my native language) And please let me know what you thought of it.

That one night was so cold, everyone fled home, longing for a warm blanket and a delicious meal. A poor little girl walked outside like every night. Every day she was sent out into the streets to sell matches. She and her family were very poor and lived in a small and poorly maintained house. They had to buy their food from the money the little girl collected. That day she was sent out with an almost empty credit card and a really old mobile phone. She was allowed to borrow her mother's slippers but they were far to big for her. The girl was walking down the streets and taking in all the happy children. The children who were on their way home with their caring parents. The girl thought of her parents, who did not care for her but only for the money she brought home. She was startled when suddenly she heard a bells ringing. A group of cyclists rode straight towards her. After a moment of processing, she ran out of the way. While she was running, she lost her slippers. The girl turned around and wanted to run back, but a boy already picked up her slippers. The boy looked at her and stepped a bit closer to her. She smiled at him but suddenly he ran away. The little girl felt the tears sting in her eyes. She took a deep breath and kept walking until she came across a shoe store. When she walked in, she heard a bell ringing above her head. Behind the counter was a tall and muscular man. The girl looked down and carefully walked down the store. After she found the cheapest pair of slippers, she slowly walked to the tall man. "That's £2" said the man. The girl inserted her credit card, but it did not work. She couldn't afford a new pair of slippers. The man looked at her irritably. She was so scared of him she ran out of the store. Her feet were getting colder and colder, but no one wanted to help the poor girl. She sat down in a corner, hoping maybe some people would buy her matches, but no one did. Everyone on the streets just looked at her and kept walking. It started snowing heavily and the little girl was freezing. She wanted to go home but her father would be so angry at her if she didn't bring any money with her. She tried to cover her little feet with her dress to warm them up a bit. She heard her phone ring, meaning she had received a message. "If you want your slippers back, you'll have to come and get them" she read. The girl looked around to see if she could see the boy somewhere but the streets were almost completely empty. She decided she would try to ignore the stranger's message. There still were no customers and none of the matches were sold. The little girl was shivering from the cold. Tears burned in her eyes and her lower lip was trembling. Her hands and feet were freezing now. It couldn't possibly hurt to light one of the matchsticks. Slowly she stroke one of the matches against the wall. It gave out a warm and bright flame. She warmed her hands with it but as soon the flame went out, she felt the cold again. She stroke another match against the wall but this time she was drawn into a world of fantasy. A table appeared. On the table was a delicious meal. In the centre of the table was a huge stuffed, roasted goose. As she walked closer to the table she could smell all of the delicious food. She came closer and closer until... the match went out and everything in front of her vanished quickly. She lit another match and was drawn in another world of fantasy. She was at a bus station. In front of here were three buses. She felt happy inside. This bus could take her away from reality. She could flee away from her family and start over somewhere else. She walked in the direction of the buses. When she looked around she saw some angry people, whom she hadn't notice before. They were yelling at the bus drivers. The little girl tried to get through the crowd to see what was going on. When she was at the front of the crowd she tried to get onto the bus bur the bus driver stopped her. "you can't get on the bus. We're not driving today. We're on strike." The man pushed her back in the crowd. All the noises faded as the match went out. She was back on the street. Lighting the matches became an addiction for the little girl. She couldn't get enough of all the things she saw. She lit her 4th matchstick and saw a shooting star. Her grandmother always told her someone will die when you see a shooting star. A blinding, white light came at her. When she was used to the amount of light, she saw her grandmother stepping out. Her dear loving grandma. The little girl loved her grandma but unfortunately she passed away when the girl was very young. The poor girl jumped up and walked over to her grandma but when she came too close, her grandmother stepped back. "I can't touch you" she said. The girl grabbed more matches and lit them all because she didn't want her grandma to disappear. "Take me with you grandma". "I can't" she answered. "please, grandma" The girl stepped closer to the light. Her grandma opened her arms and the girl walked towards her. They hugged for a second and then they both disappeared into the light.

The next morning the girl was found on the streets. She was frozen to death. People gathered around the body of the little girl. Many whispers went around because she was lying on the streets with a smile on her face but no one knew she died peacefully. Now the girl is happy, with her grandma, in heaven.

A/N This is the end of the story. Please, let me know what you think, so I can improve. Also English is not my first language, so sorry for mistakes.
This was a school assignment, but I thought it was nice to post it up here. Disclaimer: I don't know if I can write and I do not say I can, this was just for fun but let me know what you think of my writing and this story. xx Ky