She swept her fingers just over the top of the flame, the
heat licking at her skin. She smiled at the candle as she played with the
flame, thinking about how furious her mother would be if she were ever to find
out what her precious daughter was doing. Playing with fire was a dangerous
thing, and she knew that, but that didn’t mean the heat of the flame was too.
It was safe if she kept her distance. As long as the fire couldn’t reach her,
she couldn’t possibly be burned. Though, could she really trust herself to keep
that distance? If she had gotten this far without any injuries, shouldn’t it be
safe to go farther? She could hear her parents’ voices in her head, screaming
at her no. But they weren’t allowed to control her decisions. Maybe, being
burned could be a nice thing, they were just trying to keep her from seeing
that herself.