Tuesday, October 6, 2009

SYTYCW...w...w... Challenge 2, Scene 1

The tiny flame flickered and nearly died. Tane blew softly across the dry tinder. The urge to ignite the campfire burned at the base of his throat. Before he fell prey to the urge, the flame caught, crackled then rose to cast shadows and brightness on the figure beside him.



“You don’t have any difficulty making fire, do you?”


Tane blinked at the soft question then sat back on his haunches and wrapped his flint and steel in a soft rag. The ordinary action provided a moment to consider the curious note in her tone before he answered. “Many years of practice have sharpened my skill.”


“Undoubtedly.” Charity twisted the thin cotton of her skirt between her fingers then studied him through long, pale lashes before staring into the clear night sky. “The way the sparks rise, it’s almost like flying.”


“Flying?” The burning settled in his chest.


She smiled at him. “Yes. I’d like to fly, though I don’t see how such a thing would ever be possible for a simple man. God did not form us with His angels’ wings.”


“No, God did not form us so.”


Her gaze did not leave the dark sky but her head turned as though she watched a shooting star. “Perhaps with different wings a man can find the ability to fly.”


“That would take unbelievable change, both for man and for the world around him. Change is not always welcomed, but is hated or feared. Mere battles, and the cruelty of civil wars have split nations, all in the name of change.” Tane angled to face her and shook his head. “Sometimes control is abandoned and the change is too great, a fire spreading across the land. No, some changes should never be.”


Charity’s gaze rested on him and anticipation shivered down his spine. The campfire sparkled in her eyes, reflecting honest determination. “In the past, I feared change. But I have never feared fire.”


His dragon essence roared. He squelched the need to add his voice to possession’s rising call. Mine.

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