{This is a response to a 100-word writing prompt from Friday Fictioneers. Such an ordinary sight, a tree, at night: until you see the fire. Hope you enjoy, and thank you for the prompt and for reading!}
My love for wood-burning started early. Pulling a hot poker from the campfire, Dad dared me, to scar my initials into my little stump-stool. L. M. Lucius Muench. Or to Dad, Little Man.
Smoky fire roused a fervor in me, a passion, a mission. Accelerating. Raging. Consuming. I’ve illuminated my initials with fire, ever since.
Gorgeous plumes of glowing gas leap all around me, tree to virgin tree. I’m captive, yet captivated. Trapped, yet appreciative. Bowing, I bear witness to a profound and awesome Power.
Leaving now would ache no less, than the excruciating, but exquisite torture, of staying put.
Should I stay or should I go now… the song came to me, in the fantastic last lines of your tightly woven story. Wonderful!
Great song! Thanks so much!
You can’t go wrong with the Clash. 😉
Wonderful language to paint a picture of a disturbed mind. Well told. Disturbing.
Thank you. I think. ?
Muench is a German surname meaning “monk.” I was trying to capture a kind of religious fanaticism, but for fire, rather than God.
I was also trying to convey the contradictory quandary of the kidnap victim, who is in love with his captor (Stockholm syndrome).
For some reason I confused it with Munchausen syndrome, in my mind. So the story really seemed to work till (after publication) I discovered my mistake. Whoops! Munchausen syndrome is when a person, on purpose, over and over again, acts as if they have a mental or physical illness, but really dont.
Dont think that quite fits here.
Also there’s the lovely reminder of Edvard Munch’s “The Scream” that the name summons up. ?
Excellent writing and description of the mind of a pyromaniac. Powerful story, Andrea!
Thanks Brenda!
Very powerfully written! Bravo!
Thank you Violet!
Someone has aroused the monster within. A monster that wants to see everything burn. Today it is the tree, tomorrow god knows what!
Now you have me wondering which verb I should have used! Rouse or arouse? One online dictionary says rouse is to wake someone up or make someone active, while arouse means to make someone have a particular feeling. In my sentence, either meaning would make sense, so I’m sticking to my guns, so to speak.
I just now realized, how interchangeably I tend (and perhaps everyone these days tends)to use the two words. The distinction may well have disappeared by now from everyday usage.
I learn, and find myself wondering, at so many words, during Friday Fictioneers! ?
Thanks for the comment. I agree. I dont want him coming to my neighborhood!
That is a fiery passion indeed. Great writing.
Thanks gah!
So very well described, Andrea. I agree with Sandra, that last line is powerful.
Thank you Dale. Better to endure the description than the experience itself.
Indeed!
Wow – something very disturbing about him. Nicely portrayed, Andrea.
Susan A Eames at
Travel, Fiction and Photos
A little bit of Dan Brown (ala theDaVinci Code and Angels and Demons) crept into this one, I think. ?
The horror of fascination with fire, even to the point of self-immolation–you’ve described it so well.
This is what happens, when self-immolation is not in your vocabulary!?thanks granonine!
🙂
I think it’s good for a boy to have a hobby, although this is perhaps all-consuming!
Excellent write.
Thank you CE! They must keep themselves busy, somehow!?
Lucius, from the Latin “Lux” (light) and “lucere” (to shine).
Good catch Brad!
That’ s a very powerful last line.
Written and rewritten, perhaps a hundred times, till it seemed right. Thanks!
Dear Andrea,
The inner workings of a pyromaniac. Well done.
Shalom,
Rochelle
Glad to provide the insight ( not from experience!)
Definitely got some issues…!
Not one of my chummier main characters…
Obsession well-portrayed here
Thank you Neil!
Sounds like someone likes fire a little too much…
I think you may be right, draliman. A deathbed confession, of sorts.