Urstfright the Fire Sprite
Fire Sprites come and go
Urstfright the Fire Sprite was born in the consummation of Friction and Red Phosphorous. Within the instant of birth, they applied his voraciousness to the many-nippled circular copper tube in the fire bowl. His essence whooshed around the ample propane-spewing bosom and he discovered he could suck from all the nipples at the same time.
Mingling with the intoxicating fullness of the gas, he fluttered, wavered, and undulated in the flow. He wrapped around every pulsating molecule, ripping apart oxygen, hydrogen, and carbon, flinging them into the air with abandon. And then recombining them, he’d watch them dissipate into the atmosphere. What did he care? The orgy satisfied the utter depths of him.
Ancient lava rocks clustered around his wet nurse. They sucked up his heat as thirstily as he sucked C3H8 and he didn’t mind sharing even after they laughed at him.
“Youngster,” they jeered. “We’ve expanded in the thermodynamics of many of your kind. You have but a short while to live.”
Urstfright ignored them and surged around the copper ring, slurping and suffusing himself in the nectar, giving off his radiance to the grateful beings huddled nearby.
“What do you see, Lovey?” one of them wondered.
A higher voice answered, “Flowing, fiery manes and dragon tongues!”
“That’s me!” thought Urstfright and roared all the mightier.
Voluptuous Proximity tempted him with a soft, warm Mallow. A new fire sprite birthed of their union. Before Urstfright’s bulging energy field, his progeny devoured the Mallow and vanished in a gasp of carbon.
“Not so close, Lovey,” the human voice warned.
Urstfright pulled back. Proximity fled.
You have but a little while. The thought haunted the breeze.
A gust of carbon-laden wind uprooted Urstfright from his comfortable table. He clung to three remaining nipple holes and cowered in the embrace of the copper pipe, sipping propane and oxygen between buffets.
“Woodland and grass burn!” howled the wind. “Your kind feasts mightily and lives longer out in the wild.”
“But wood is hard on my teeth,” Urstfright objected. “My feast is pure and intense. There is no ash in my breath.”
“You have but a short while to live,” answered the noxious wind as it released him and passed around the corner.
Urstfright soaked himself once more in propane and gloried in his established circumference. His delicate curves and tenuous lines danced in the pupils of the humans. Fiery manes and dragon tongues licked life out of the gathering gloom.
“Time for bed, dearest,” said the older human reaching for the cylinder just off to the side.
Urstfright had a bad feeling about it.
The lava rocks crackled in the dawn frost. They huddled beside the hollow Fire Sprite Wet Nurse, dreaming, sure of her bounty, sure of the coming darkness, sure of the consummation of Friction and Red Phosphorous.
Fire Sprites come and go, they assured each other. Fiery manes and dragon tongues would return with the next one.
Stories are our currency. They endow us with treasure beyond ourselves. Thank you for reading this little tale. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed writing it. https://leoshine.micandpen.com/
