Match Boy
Thursday, 14. August 2008, 12:31:38
Four Loves
Leaving Home
nce upon a time, in a place where it was winter all year round, a little match boy lived with his father in a house made of wood. The boy was thirteen and his name was Charlie. He was scrawny and short for his age, and had dark brown hair with bangs cut straight across his forehead. His clothes were extremely tattered and he was a yellow pale color, like he had been hungry and cold for a long time. Charlie was heading home from his job selling matches in the town square. Today he only sold three matches. One was bought by an old man who always came out of his warm home when he spotted Charlie selling the matches. He was nicknamed Agape. Agape always bought a match or two, even thought it was painfully obvious that the man didn’t need the matches. Agape reminded Charlie of his mother, Storge, and her kind heart. One night his mother went out into the worst snowstorm recorded. They were running out of firewood at the time, and Charlie’s father, Eros, and Charlie were asleep. Storge went out to fetch the firewood from the side of the house. When they woke up she wasn’t in the house and Eros and Charlie assumed she went out in the storm. But when the storm slowed down, they went out to find her, but there was no body. It was a mystery. Eros presumed that she had blown away in the storm. Charlie missed her so. Shaking off the thought of his mother he walked in the door. A mixture of freezing wind and white snow blew in the door, also.
“How much did ya make today?”
Charlie paused, removed the coins and crumpled bill from his pocket and mumbled, “A dollah fifty.”
“A DOLLAH FIFTY?!?!” His father exclaimed furiously. “That won’t even buy us a loaf a bread!”
“Bu… But dad, ain’t nobody was out today. It was to cold for the likes of those city slickers….” His voice faded off.
Eros grabbed Charlie by the shoulders.
“You always make up them stupid excuses!” He slapped Charlie across the face, then released him and Charlie stood there in shock. Charlie snatched up his matches and called to his golden retriever as he raced out the door. “C’mon Philia!”
Stumbling Upon a Cottage
Charlie ran and ran as tears rushed down his cheeks. He came to a stop and laid down on the snow covered leaves. Philia came and rolled up next to him. How could is father do this to him he thought. He retrieved the six matches he had taken from home. Three of them had gotten wet because of the snow. He struck one of the left over three on a tree and it lit up in a burst of light and warmth erupted from the top of the long stick. He saw his mother’s soft face in the flame, but as soon as he saw her face, it was extinguished by the snowstorm. He swiped the second match across the tree in hopes to see his mother again. This time instead, it was his warm, comfy little home. He was getting home sick. He didn’t want to light his last match and see something that would make him want go back home, so Charlie saved his last match. It was beginning to get dark and he heard a soft rustling in a nearby bush and he didn’t want to find out who or what was hiding there. He stood up and started walking quickly away from the bush and every few seconds he would peek over his shoulder to check if anything was following him. Nope. He heard footsteps in the snow behind him. Maybe it was just Philia. He checked behind him. Nothing. He started to shiver more, not only because it was so cold, but because he was getting scared. It was darker now and Charlie didn’t know where he was going. He still heard footsteps behind him, and kept checking. Every time there was nothing. After walking far away from where Charlie thought the bush was, he smelled something in the air. Could it be? It was the smell of fresh-out-of-the-oven gingerbread! Wait, was that an oil lamp burning in the distance? It had become almost completely dark, except for the few rays of moonlight shining through the branches of dead trees. He started walking faster and faster and the lamp became closer and closer to him. Eventually he was in the clearing where a house was located. He naively walked right up to the small cottage and knocked on the door. A weak old lady pulled the door ajar as if it weighed a ton and poked her small wrinkled face, and unrealistically long nose out of the opening in the door. The old woman smiled, revealing a grotesque set of yellow, jagged teeth. It was enough to make you cringe, but all Charlie noticed was the aromatic sent of gingerbread. His mouth was watering, and the old woman could tell.
“Would you care to come in to have a cookie, dear?” She whispered in a high crackly voice.
“Yes’m!” Charlie said.
The old lady sighed exasperatingly as Charlie polished off his eighteenth cookie like he had never eaten before. Charlie grabbed one last cookie and tossed it to the ground where Philia was laying. She yanked the platter away from before he could move another muscle toward it.
“So sweetie, you live around here?” The woman asked, taking his attention off the loss of the cookies.
“Well I used ta… I ran away from home because ma daddy, he slapped me straight acrossed the face!” Charlie said getting all worked up.
“You poor thing. Well you can stay here as long as you like!” She said smiling, but the smile looked painful, like she was forcing the corners of her mouth up. Charlie was looking around the tiny cottage. It was full of cages with birds in them, the birds were all different colors, but all of them had a pale tint to their feathers, from sitting in cages all of their lives, Charlie though.
The old woman, who’s name was Granny Glenda, put Charlie in a room the size of a shed which contained a bed, a furnace, and a single window. Granny Glenda threw some logs in the furnace and lit it with a set of matches that she acquired from her apron pocket. Philia sauntered into the room and hopped up on the bed making herself comfortable. Granny Glenda murmured ‘Goodnight’ then shut the door quickly behind her. That night Charlie dreamt about gingerbread cookies.
Saving Storge
Charlie woke up to the tweeting of the birds in the kitchen. The sun was just peeking through his window. He got out of bed and went out the door and into the kitchen. Scrambled eggs were already on the table, fresh off the pan. Only Heaven knows where them eggs came from! Charlie thought as he glanced at the cages before he took a bite. To his surprise, the eggs were quite good. When he was finished he went up to the cages and examined each bird carefully. Every one of them looked extremely different. One even, dare he thought it, looked a tad like his dear mother. When Granny Glenda spotted him observing the birds, she abruptly shooed him away.
“One a those birdies looks a bit like my mummy did… Did you take ‘er and change ‘er? Are you a WITCH?” Charlie blurted out.
Philia bolted out of the house and into the snow so fast no one could’ve stopped her and Granny Glenda froze in her tracks.
“So you think you have everything figured out?? Well figure yourself out of this!”
Granny Glenda threw Charlie in his room and locked the door. Charlie knew that bird was his mother. He just had this odd sensation. He had to find a way out of there. The door. The window. The FURANCE! He would climb up his chimney and then down the main chimney that was located inside the kitchen. It was a brilliant plan, but would it actually work was the question. Charlie squeezed himself into the furnace, it was smaller than he had thought, and inched his way up. Ashes were falling into his eyes and it was getting harder to breath with all the soot gathering in his lungs. He was feeling like giving up when he felt a cold drop of snow. I must be near the top! Charlie thought. This gave him the energy and strength to keep going to the top. He pulled himself out onto the white roof feeling a small sense of accomplishment, then realizing that he was only halfway done. He slid himself, reluctantly, into the next chimney, which was larger, but also was still hot from the last fire. He was burning his hands badly, but he was doing it for his mother so he had to press on. he reached the burnt logs on the ground. He did it! Charlie had gotten from his room to the kitchen through the chimneys. But now the task was to rescue the birds.
~
Philia had barked at the door until Eros had came and opened up. Eros had a feeling something was wrong so he grabbed his coat and followed Philia. They were running through the forest to the cottage.
~
Charlie had undone most of the locks on the cages when he heard footsteps in the hall way. He grabbed all the cages and dashed out of the house. He
removed each bird from each cage and flung them into the air. All thirteen of the birds. But wait. There were only twelve birds in the sky. There were thirteen cages. Charlie had left his mother in the house! He sprinted back to get her, but ‘Granny’ Glenda was walking around. What to do. Something sharp poked him in the leg. It was the match that he had left in his pocket. It had broken in two but it still could work. Charlie grabbed a loose roof tile and slid the match across it. The flame burst out and stayed! He help the flame to the side of the house, it slowly caught on fire. Charlie was waiting for the right moment to run into the house and grab Storge. The fire must have been seen by ‘Granny’ because she came running out of the house screaming. She caught a glimpse of Charlie and was coming at him with a look of hatred on her face. All of a sudden the birds that Charlie had released moments ago were swooping down and attacking the old witch. Charlie had the perfect chance to run inside. He bolted through the door took Storge’s cage and ran out of the burning house. A wooden beam fron the attic fell and almost hit Charlie, but he ducked. He was coughing so hard his head hurt and he didn’t know which was out. Eros arrived at the burning residence just in time. He called to Charlie, because he was blinded with ashes, and he made it out safely. The witch was not so lucky. Her spirit melted into the ground as she swore, “I WILL GET YOU MY PRETTY! AND YOUR LITTLE DOG TOO!”
As the last of her house burn down, the birds all became their natural state, humans. Storge rushed to hug her family. Eros, Storge and Charlie were finally all together again.
And from that day on, it never snowed there again.
NOTE: this story was based upon the story "The Little Match Girl" by Hans Christen Andersen.
Glossary
Greek words for love; Agape- Charitable love, Eros- Love between a man and woman, Philia- Friendship/loyalty, Storge – Family members loving each other
Leaving Home
nce upon a time, in a place where it was winter all year round, a little match boy lived with his father in a house made of wood. The boy was thirteen and his name was Charlie. He was scrawny and short for his age, and had dark brown hair with bangs cut straight across his forehead. His clothes were extremely tattered and he was a yellow pale color, like he had been hungry and cold for a long time. Charlie was heading home from his job selling matches in the town square. Today he only sold three matches. One was bought by an old man who always came out of his warm home when he spotted Charlie selling the matches. He was nicknamed Agape. Agape always bought a match or two, even thought it was painfully obvious that the man didn’t need the matches. Agape reminded Charlie of his mother, Storge, and her kind heart. One night his mother went out into the worst snowstorm recorded. They were running out of firewood at the time, and Charlie’s father, Eros, and Charlie were asleep. Storge went out to fetch the firewood from the side of the house. When they woke up she wasn’t in the house and Eros and Charlie assumed she went out in the storm. But when the storm slowed down, they went out to find her, but there was no body. It was a mystery. Eros presumed that she had blown away in the storm. Charlie missed her so. Shaking off the thought of his mother he walked in the door. A mixture of freezing wind and white snow blew in the door, also.
“How much did ya make today?”
Charlie paused, removed the coins and crumpled bill from his pocket and mumbled, “A dollah fifty.”
“A DOLLAH FIFTY?!?!” His father exclaimed furiously. “That won’t even buy us a loaf a bread!”
“Bu… But dad, ain’t nobody was out today. It was to cold for the likes of those city slickers….” His voice faded off.
Eros grabbed Charlie by the shoulders.
“You always make up them stupid excuses!” He slapped Charlie across the face, then released him and Charlie stood there in shock. Charlie snatched up his matches and called to his golden retriever as he raced out the door. “C’mon Philia!”
Stumbling Upon a Cottage
Charlie ran and ran as tears rushed down his cheeks. He came to a stop and laid down on the snow covered leaves. Philia came and rolled up next to him. How could is father do this to him he thought. He retrieved the six matches he had taken from home. Three of them had gotten wet because of the snow. He struck one of the left over three on a tree and it lit up in a burst of light and warmth erupted from the top of the long stick. He saw his mother’s soft face in the flame, but as soon as he saw her face, it was extinguished by the snowstorm. He swiped the second match across the tree in hopes to see his mother again. This time instead, it was his warm, comfy little home. He was getting home sick. He didn’t want to light his last match and see something that would make him want go back home, so Charlie saved his last match. It was beginning to get dark and he heard a soft rustling in a nearby bush and he didn’t want to find out who or what was hiding there. He stood up and started walking quickly away from the bush and every few seconds he would peek over his shoulder to check if anything was following him. Nope. He heard footsteps in the snow behind him. Maybe it was just Philia. He checked behind him. Nothing. He started to shiver more, not only because it was so cold, but because he was getting scared. It was darker now and Charlie didn’t know where he was going. He still heard footsteps behind him, and kept checking. Every time there was nothing. After walking far away from where Charlie thought the bush was, he smelled something in the air. Could it be? It was the smell of fresh-out-of-the-oven gingerbread! Wait, was that an oil lamp burning in the distance? It had become almost completely dark, except for the few rays of moonlight shining through the branches of dead trees. He started walking faster and faster and the lamp became closer and closer to him. Eventually he was in the clearing where a house was located. He naively walked right up to the small cottage and knocked on the door. A weak old lady pulled the door ajar as if it weighed a ton and poked her small wrinkled face, and unrealistically long nose out of the opening in the door. The old woman smiled, revealing a grotesque set of yellow, jagged teeth. It was enough to make you cringe, but all Charlie noticed was the aromatic sent of gingerbread. His mouth was watering, and the old woman could tell.
“Would you care to come in to have a cookie, dear?” She whispered in a high crackly voice.
“Yes’m!” Charlie said.
The old lady sighed exasperatingly as Charlie polished off his eighteenth cookie like he had never eaten before. Charlie grabbed one last cookie and tossed it to the ground where Philia was laying. She yanked the platter away from before he could move another muscle toward it.
“So sweetie, you live around here?” The woman asked, taking his attention off the loss of the cookies.
“Well I used ta… I ran away from home because ma daddy, he slapped me straight acrossed the face!” Charlie said getting all worked up.
“You poor thing. Well you can stay here as long as you like!” She said smiling, but the smile looked painful, like she was forcing the corners of her mouth up. Charlie was looking around the tiny cottage. It was full of cages with birds in them, the birds were all different colors, but all of them had a pale tint to their feathers, from sitting in cages all of their lives, Charlie though.
The old woman, who’s name was Granny Glenda, put Charlie in a room the size of a shed which contained a bed, a furnace, and a single window. Granny Glenda threw some logs in the furnace and lit it with a set of matches that she acquired from her apron pocket. Philia sauntered into the room and hopped up on the bed making herself comfortable. Granny Glenda murmured ‘Goodnight’ then shut the door quickly behind her. That night Charlie dreamt about gingerbread cookies.
Saving Storge
Charlie woke up to the tweeting of the birds in the kitchen. The sun was just peeking through his window. He got out of bed and went out the door and into the kitchen. Scrambled eggs were already on the table, fresh off the pan. Only Heaven knows where them eggs came from! Charlie thought as he glanced at the cages before he took a bite. To his surprise, the eggs were quite good. When he was finished he went up to the cages and examined each bird carefully. Every one of them looked extremely different. One even, dare he thought it, looked a tad like his dear mother. When Granny Glenda spotted him observing the birds, she abruptly shooed him away.
“One a those birdies looks a bit like my mummy did… Did you take ‘er and change ‘er? Are you a WITCH?” Charlie blurted out.
Philia bolted out of the house and into the snow so fast no one could’ve stopped her and Granny Glenda froze in her tracks.
“So you think you have everything figured out?? Well figure yourself out of this!”
Granny Glenda threw Charlie in his room and locked the door. Charlie knew that bird was his mother. He just had this odd sensation. He had to find a way out of there. The door. The window. The FURANCE! He would climb up his chimney and then down the main chimney that was located inside the kitchen. It was a brilliant plan, but would it actually work was the question. Charlie squeezed himself into the furnace, it was smaller than he had thought, and inched his way up. Ashes were falling into his eyes and it was getting harder to breath with all the soot gathering in his lungs. He was feeling like giving up when he felt a cold drop of snow. I must be near the top! Charlie thought. This gave him the energy and strength to keep going to the top. He pulled himself out onto the white roof feeling a small sense of accomplishment, then realizing that he was only halfway done. He slid himself, reluctantly, into the next chimney, which was larger, but also was still hot from the last fire. He was burning his hands badly, but he was doing it for his mother so he had to press on. he reached the burnt logs on the ground. He did it! Charlie had gotten from his room to the kitchen through the chimneys. But now the task was to rescue the birds.
~
Philia had barked at the door until Eros had came and opened up. Eros had a feeling something was wrong so he grabbed his coat and followed Philia. They were running through the forest to the cottage.
~
Charlie had undone most of the locks on the cages when he heard footsteps in the hall way. He grabbed all the cages and dashed out of the house. He
removed each bird from each cage and flung them into the air. All thirteen of the birds. But wait. There were only twelve birds in the sky. There were thirteen cages. Charlie had left his mother in the house! He sprinted back to get her, but ‘Granny’ Glenda was walking around. What to do. Something sharp poked him in the leg. It was the match that he had left in his pocket. It had broken in two but it still could work. Charlie grabbed a loose roof tile and slid the match across it. The flame burst out and stayed! He help the flame to the side of the house, it slowly caught on fire. Charlie was waiting for the right moment to run into the house and grab Storge. The fire must have been seen by ‘Granny’ because she came running out of the house screaming. She caught a glimpse of Charlie and was coming at him with a look of hatred on her face. All of a sudden the birds that Charlie had released moments ago were swooping down and attacking the old witch. Charlie had the perfect chance to run inside. He bolted through the door took Storge’s cage and ran out of the burning house. A wooden beam fron the attic fell and almost hit Charlie, but he ducked. He was coughing so hard his head hurt and he didn’t know which was out. Eros arrived at the burning residence just in time. He called to Charlie, because he was blinded with ashes, and he made it out safely. The witch was not so lucky. Her spirit melted into the ground as she swore, “I WILL GET YOU MY PRETTY! AND YOUR LITTLE DOG TOO!”
As the last of her house burn down, the birds all became their natural state, humans. Storge rushed to hug her family. Eros, Storge and Charlie were finally all together again.
And from that day on, it never snowed there again.
NOTE: this story was based upon the story "The Little Match Girl" by Hans Christen Andersen.
Glossary
Greek words for love; Agape- Charitable love, Eros- Love between a man and woman, Philia- Friendship/loyalty, Storge – Family members loving each other
But still, I go. So as I type, my cousin and I are driving the 3-hour senic route to my hometown in hopes of seeing some of my old buddies. (My cousin's laptop is wireless! 
)
lol
hehe. The reason I thought to write this was my friend's book on her desk called "Wide Blue Yonder" (by Jean Thompson). It reminded me of my childhood, when my grandmother would sit in the backyard with me and recite her favorite Robert Louis Stevenson poem, "The Swing" from Child's Garden of Verses: 
