Playing with Fire

His voice still haunts me: "i will show you tonight, my fire phoenix!"

Nervously, i paced around the entrance of the carnival. The "lantern festival" had already began. Where was he? I glanced one more around and went back looking at my feet, they were rather small for a seven year old girl, i thought.

Holding a candle-lit lantern just like every child in the carnival, i strife inside the bazaar annoyed by Calvin being so late. Annually, there will always be a riddle contest (for children only) held in the bazaar on "lantern festival". Children will answer a brain-racketing riddle which whoever solved it, wins a magnificent lantern. How unfortunately, my intellectual of riddles was never better than Calvin who always beat me in the contest. Satisfied of my own gleaming ocher lantern, I stood by the crowd, laughing at the many ludicrous answers.

Finally a bright child got the right answer to the riddle: proudly accepting the "Green Dragon" lantern with pride and glory with applauses from the audience.

Melodramatically a grieve stricken parent ran onto the stage and stole the lime light. It took me a couple of seconds to recognise Calvin's minor charred mother.
"Please, save my son!" Begged Calvin's mother, gone on her knees and pointed at the roof of the bazaar. With guidance, i was horrified to watch Calvin holding what looks like a huge origami crane in raging flame.
"Look suin, my fiery phoenix is alive and has real fire!" Claimed the sophomoric child. Oblivion flames caught the cheap nylon fabric of the roof the bazaar from the fiery phoenix. People impatiently rush out of the bazaar compound, only few brave hearts dared to rescue the now frightened Calvin. Without hint, the roof caved in with Calvin falling into the inferno. Some fathers barely made it out alive while the rest scorched in the fire.

Calvin's mother mourned at the lost of her beloved son while the rest watched in silence. I was full of guilt. their plight, deaths, and tears was all my fault. If only i had not taunted Calvin that following morning that his lantern was not a real "fire phoenix"...

Ashamed, i walked out of the scene without apologising, conceding that i was running away from responsibility.