Outside the limits of our small town, in the deep dark forest is where we are huddled by the open flames of the fire. The flames engulf us, make us lost in their flowy wisps. The heat brings a welcome sense of peace. Whispers surround us, words of infinity and eternity dance around in our ears. The flames are like drugs to us. Making us see unbelievably beautiful imagery from the smoke. Images that call for us. Begging us to chase them. We all are lost by the serenity of the flames and how indestructible they are.


    “The flames will purify us all”


    It’s true, well to us anyway. Fire is our savior. It’s a way for us to be free. We all live our lives. Make mistakes. Some people like to live their lives until they die of natural causes. But what good does that do? They will die sinners. We all here have made our share of mistakes. We are all sinners. The only way to be resolved of our mistakes though is to be pure. That is what fire does for all of us. The fire is a representation of God. Fire is the sole manifestation of his divine presence. When we call upon the flames, we call upon him. His ability to eliminate sin and to purify us all is through the flames.


    Something feels off though. The flames quickly start to dwindle and their vibrancy has vanquished, leaving them dull and reeking of despair. The winds that are usually a soft, gentle hug are now a forceful shove. This day should be a day of celebration. Today is our turn to walk amongst the flames and to be reborn in the skies. But something lingers off in our minds. Something that neither of us has been confident enough to speak about.


    “Our parents will be shamed”.Stolen novel; please report.


    All of us nod our heads in sadness. That is what was creating the void in our day. The thing that we never speak of. We all share the same solemn look of disapproval. Unlike our parents before us, we did not live to our full potential. There used to be 10 of us, but now there is three. We have broken the rules of our parents and those before. Once we reach the age of 15, we each should already have children. Our children are the next generation of the flames and should learn our beliefs so they can pass them down. But as it turned out none of us have kids because the only female of us, is infertile.


    “We should have procreated with someone from the outside”


    “Where in the rules, does it state, that we can do that. We have read the rules over and over, the only thing we can do, is let the flames take our guilt away”


    We stood there waiting. We will meet our fate with the flames at sunset. Once the sun meets the horizon, is when we say goodbye to our life on earth and hello to our life in the arms of God. Once the crimson sun was disappearing into the dark shadowy unknown, we all look at each other and step forward.


    “Now we must be reborn in the flames”


    Though the flames can take away our mistakes, can it right our wrongs. Our parents were the sole providers of our education. We all learned from a young age, that fire is our greatest weapon. When we all were around the ages of 8, we all said goodbye to our parents through the flames. From then on, it was our turn to make mistakes and live our lives. Who will learn from us though? Who will take the knowledge of the flames and pass it on? No one will because of us. God wasted 23 years on us, so how can we tarnish the power of flames with our negligence? We cannot use the flames, if we do then we are failures. Why should we wrong our parents this way?


    “No, we cannot. The fire is our essence, it’s our link to God. If we abuse it, then it would not be right”


    “Then we must turn away from the flames, and live out our sinful lives, then when it’s our time to go, by natural causes, the flames will be our enemy”