Grimgal of Ashes and Illusion - Volume 18 - Chapter SS1

Bonus Short Stories

Fire, Stay with Me

Haruhiro made a habit of picking up anything that he could use for starting a fire. Things like bark, or maybe a little dandelion fluff. When his clothes were getting too worn out to wear, he would cut them into thin strips and put them in his backpack. If he heated the scraps slowly to make char cloth, they were excellent tinder.

This was the forest, so there were dried twigs and branches lying around everywhere that provided a convenient source for kindling. Dead trees were easy to break, and their wood burned well. He could use those that had been felled by lightning strikes and the like too.

Haruhiro gathered his firewood and dug a shallow hole in the ground as an impromptu fire pit. He’d need to rebury it later, no doubt, and it wasn’t so cold out that he would freeze if he wasn’t by the fire all night, so he didn’t have to take this part all that seriously.

He put his tinder at the bottom of what could only charitably be called a fire pit, and created a dome of dried branches over the pile. The branches, which were thicker, provided a framework. Then he placed pieces of firewood that he’d broken or cut into twenty-centimeter lengths on top.

He’d experimented with various ways of assembling fire pits in the past, but he tried not to be too obsessive about it. As long as it didn’t collapse, that was all that really mattered. He laid the remaining kindling and the firewood he would use as fuel later around the outside of the fire pit.

Next, Haruhiro began starting the fire. He’d tried a number of different methods for this too, but had settled on a quick method that didn’t require flint or other tools. First he would cut a piece of soft wood so that one side was flat, and carve a groove in that side. Then he would run a harder piece of wood up and down the groove. Other people might have different preferences, but Haruhiro found this suited him better than the method of making a hole in one piece of wood and spinning another around in it to create friction.

As the pieces of wood rubbed together, the wood fiber blackened from the heat. Eventually the wood fiber ignited and started to smoke. He piled on some tinder, and blew into it. Once he started to see fire, he just had to push it into the bottom of the fire pit. In most cases, the fire would quickly spread to the kindling.

Today, the fire seemed weak. Haruhiro got down on all fours, then he lowered his head further. With a little more air blown into the bottom of the fire pit, smoke began rising, and the crackling sounds started.

Haruhiro stopped blowing and sat in front of the fire pit.

It wasn’t long before the red flames appeared. He stuck his hand out over them. Maybe this is obvious, but it felt hot.

It had gotten pretty dark out. Haruhiro took a breath, looking around the area.

Should he have lit a fire tonight? Was it safe? Or was it dangerous? He always hesitated. But if he was hesitant to do it, maybe he should have just not. He’d considered that. But he wanted a fire, even if that meant taking some risk. He couldn’t deny the appeal.

Haruhiro hugged his knees.

For whatever reason, when he stared into the flickering flames, no extraneous thoughts clouded his mind. Extraneous thoughts... Were the things he thought about unnecessary, though? Not at all. He knew that. That was why he got lost in thought. But he didn't want to think. Thinking alone changed nothing. He couldn’t get things back that way. Dwelling on it served no purpose. But pointless or not, he couldn’t help but think.

A bird cried out in the night. The bugs chirred, each kind having their own different voices.

The fire kept burning.

Haruhiro fed it a piece of firewood, crossed over another.

There was just one good thing about the dark of night. The darkness made vision useless. He couldn’t see anything in the dark. In order to detect threats, he perked up his ears instead, honing his senses to catch the slightest change. He could afford to stare at the fire.

Haruhiro kept staring intently into the flames. The night grew long, and his firewood ran out. He briefly fell asleep, still sitting, and looking as if he had given up.