Fairies Of The Fire-

It was a cold night and outside the wind blattered hard against the shutters .
Inside the dingy little cottage the old woman sat by the fireplace trying to keep warm .On her lap she had a small pile of bills . Wondering how she was ever going to pay them she gazed into the fireplace . The flames shot up the chimney as she ricked back and forth in her old rocking chair .
"Well ." said she to no one there ,
"Sure I may as well face it . I'll be sent out on the road . "
She rocked in the chair thinking of days gone by when here children were all around her and she was still able to work the farm .

Time slowly passed and the clock on the mantle piece chimed . It was midnight and there was nothing left to burn except the bills on her lap .
She softly spoke to herself ,

"If I only had the rent money it wouldn't be so bad . I could go without food for a while , but I sure haven't the money for another lump of coal ."
She yawned and had a stretch and with care she reached for her walking stick and pushed herself up to her feet . She placed all the bills on top of the mantle piece before checking to see if the fire was safe to leave before leaving the room . It looked all right and so she went to bed .

The door closed behind her as she made her way into the bedroom .

Outside the wind was still howling and as she listened to the rain pelting
down she was so glad she was tucked up under the blankets . Then the desperate thoughts came to her about how she would cope if they kicked her out . She started to go through all the places where she might be able to keep out of the rain . There was no where she could think of and there was no one that cared for her any longer since all her family were lost at sea .
Her final thoughts that night was about becoming a woman of the roads .

As she lay her head on the pillow sleep came upon her . Inside in the little parlour the dying flames of the fire started to crackle and jump higher and higher until something strange began to happen . From out of the glow in the fire, three tiny fairy like creatures leaped out of the flames and onto the rocking chair .

One by one they began to play their little musical instruments .
First the harp them the fiddle and finally the elbow pipes .The flames grew taller with each note they played . Then dancers from the fire leapt out and they did jigs all around the little parlour . As the dance went on and the music played louder and faster each of the bills on the mantelpiece burst into flames and in doing so the flames spread among everything on the mantelpiece .
The old clock and some hair rollers caught alight . Even a packet of rubber bands and some of her old photo frames .

The old woman was sound asleep in her bed and it was only the smell of smoke burning that awoke her . She jumped out of bed and ran into the parlour .As she did the fairies leapt back into the fire .
What a mess greeted the old woman .
"Oh goodness me I must have forgot to check the fire before going to bed ."
She said as she raced over to the flames . She threw a blanket over the flames and put out the flames on mantle piece . Picking up the burnt photos of her family that were gone she gave a deep sigh when she saw they had been badly burnt .

She got to her knees and began to clean up the ashes on the floor and around the hearth .
Suddenly there was a knock on the front door .

"Well that's a sound I haven't heard for many years . "
She said as she went to answer it .
Standing there was the landlord with his face as white as a sheet .

"Save me please. "
He cried .

"What on earth is wrong ?"
The old woman asked .

"Let me come in before the new day comes ."
He said .

"come in by the fire ."
She said .

He came in and sat down and told her about the visitors he had during the night . He seemed very disturbed as spoke in a rush .
"As I was going through the books I noticed your rent was overdue . Then I saw them . Black as ink they were . The souls of the departed walked through my house taunting me about all the wrongs I have done in my life . Their words burnt into my very soul like . I looked into their eyes and saw the fires of hell itself . "

The old woman really never heard a word he said because she though he had come for the rent money .
" Please just give me a few weeks and I'll get you the rent money ."
She said .

The landlord continued to tell her about the visitors that came to his house during the night .

"I saw myself burning in hell and there was no way out . The three black souls that spoke to me told me to pay it all back before was like them . Cursed to walk the earth forever more . Evicted from an eternity where I would not be able to ever rest in peace ."

The old woman was so worried about the landlord evicting her she never really was listening to his story .

"It's hard for me now to find work but I'll pay you somehow . Please don't throw me out on the roads . "
Said the old woman but the landlord never heard a word she said because he was still ranting on about the visitors that came calling to his house .

"There they were black as coal . No eyes and no soul . Joined by the hip and joined by more and more as each second passed . Telling me to give the money back . All the years I've cheated you and all the others . Please forgive me . I am sorry for asking for too much . 

The old woman heard that all right .
"What ever are you talking about . Have you gone mad or what ?
She said .

" I don't want your money . You see I've been over charging the rent . You and all the others on my books have been paying twice what you should have for the past twenty five years and I feel terrible about it ."

"Twenty five years you say ."
The old woman replied .

"I want you to live here for the rest of your life free from rent of any kind . That is the only way that I will be able to save my soul . Please save me ."

"Right then . Free rent sounds great to me . Ok you're saved ."

Another knock came to the door .
The old woman answered it and standing there was the coalman with quite a few sacks of coal . He had a terrified look on his face .

"Please let me come in . I must right a terrible wrong before another day comes . I need to tell you something Mrs Muldoon . Please let me in . "
He said .

"Sure enough come in by the fire ."
The old woman said .
Almost in tears the coalman knelt before her and begged her forgiveness.

"I've been under filling your coal sacks for years and tonight I had a few visitors in my house ."

"Where they black as night with no eyes and smoke pouring from the holes ."
The landlord asked .

"They were. "
Replied the coalman .

"Thank God I'm not alone then ."
Said the landlord .

"I've been shown the error of my ways Mrs Muldoon and I would like to repay you by giving you these bags of coal free and one each week for the rest of your life .

Said the coalman .

"Oh sure . That sounds fine ."
The old woman said as she stood there in shock .
Another knock came to the door .
This time it was the milkman who wanted to talk about the strange visitors that came to his house during the night .

He too confessed that he had been taking too much money for the milk for many years and wanted to pay it all back .
By the end of the night they were all in tears but happy to have got everything off their chests .
A new dawn came and the three visitors left the old woman to her new home and a new life . The landlord left with a song on his lips .
The milkman whistled as he waled off and the coalman gave Mrs Muldoon a great big hug . As the door closed behind her Mrs Muldoon jumped for joy .

She went over to the fireplace and noticed all the ashes were cleaned up off the floor and somehow the photos that had been burned now looked brand new . If she had looked into the fire she would have seen little fairies dancing
But instead she went into the kitchen and made herself a cup of tea .

THE END

By Paul Mc Cann