Creative Writing Exercise

this is just something i do to ensure i don't lose my writing abilities. i'm fully gearing for nanowrimo 2008. today's topic is 'lighting a matchstick'.

Lighting a matchstick

On tiptoes, I stretch my hand to the back of the mantelpiece where I know the matchbox lies hidden. Ruffling around in the darkness, I finally find contact with a small cardboard box. In my mind, I know that it’s white in colour with a picture of a cat across the top. I got it from one of the theatre plays I attended, I believe. Grasping it tight between my first and second fingers, I draw it out from its hiding spot. The darkness around me is enveloping, I yearn for light.

I open the matchbox and feel around inside for a match. There’s not many left… maybe about three or four sticks. I try to recall when I last used them, but can’t. They’ve been hidden out of sight for the longest time. I close my fingers around one matchstick and take it out of its container. Feeling its ends, I quickly locate the wooden four-edged end where my fingers ought to be. I close the matchbox with my other hand, and feel around it for the rough sandpaper edge. Finding it, I scratch the matchstick against the matchbox, gently at first as I am afraid to break the matchstick in my enthusiasm. Small sparks fly off from where the matchstick meets the matchbox. They’re like mini fireworks in the dark, holding a promise of much more spectacular things to come. I grip the matchstick tighter in my fingers, afraid of losing it, and scratch it across the matchbox edge harder this time. It looks like a tiny firework festival in my hand. The fireworks seem to clash against each other with a great amount of merriment, till they finally burst out in one strong united flame.

Light. It’s pure beauty before my eyes.