Le Feu Follet

She felt empty, a vessel (if this was what it felt like to be human, how could so many people want to exist?)

She was captivated by simple, pure moments in time: watching a kettle boil, the dance of sunlight across water, listening to Erik Satie; if she could just live her life in these indifferent fragments it would be all right. Satisfactory.

A short while after, the girl realised that she couldn't love. Surely this couldn't be too uncommon?

The feelings she had for the people around her were merely tolerance with etchings of fondness and at times, intense dislike.

She could mask away her secret (if found out would they not be horrified? disgusted?), she learned how to imitate to precision, how to say 'I love you' and 'I want you' and sound like she meant it.

Author's Note

Le Feu Follet - The fire within
(the film of the same title by Louis Malle is magnificent, give it a watch)

Reviews

[Cal]

This is really, really nice!

I like the contrast between the title ("The Fire Within") and the character's emptiness- at first, it seems that she can't be empty, cold, depressed- but then, upon second thought, perhaps the fire within her consumed everything and left her a husk of sorts. The fire is also a nice reference to love, often described as a flame of passion. Is the title, then, a metaphor for what she wants out of life?

If so, it's interesting that you mention a character (Erik) in the list of things that captivate her. Does she love him, or has her passion/other flame consumed it? And what about the other things? Do all those things light a fire within her that eats away at her slowly, while also giving her life? And what about her mask, mentioned in the final sentence? Will it eventually catch fire and burn away?

I also like the short, fragmented nature of the story. It's coherent and manages to give just enough information without being too direct or wordy or cryptic.

I've never seen the film by the same title, but now that I've read this, I definitely want to! Great work!