Eric
2/2/05

Christmas Eve

The flames were crackling in the fire. I watched, as the marshmallow I had thrown turned black and charred. The goo was slowly seeping out of the marshmallow and drooling onto the log. It was Christmas Eve, and my family and I were in the family room relaxing. The fire started crackling uncontrollably as sap started to ooze out of the log. Suddenly, the log that had sap in it cracked again. The spark it made landed right on my arm. I was startled because normally this kind of thing only happens at campfires and not in a fireplace. I quickly slapped my arm in shock, and then started rubbing the part where it landed. The spark went out. The warmth from the spark burned for a few seconds, and then stopped.

After that I retreated to the couch so I wouldn't be at risk of any more sparks. The fire continued popping as sparks flew everywhere. Half of the log was almost completely covered in sap. Suddenly the fire died down. The log ceased popping, and sparks stopped flying. The log turned black. The coals were still shone in the fireplace until it was smothered with ashes from the log. I went off to bed to get warmed up because the room was cold..