I dreamed.623Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpHyUdHrSkl
623Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqNPyk0f81P
I was standing on a pillar in high winds, and I was on fire. It didn't hurt. It was warm. The fire was too bright to look at. I shielded my eyes with my hands. But the light was coming from my burning face. My hands simply protected the flames from the wind, and they grew higher, brighter. Then I was a beacon of flame on a pillar, and I was lighting up the entire world.623Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYY4wC82TTc
623Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOARD2S2Wzz
I wanted to get down, to put out the fire, but a crowd of people gathered. No, they all said, they needed the light. The flames, running up my face, across my eyes, hid their faces from me. I tried to get down, but they made me stay. They put a glass dome over me like a huge light bulb. I was trapped inside with the flames, which spread until the whole dome was a huge fireball.623Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNq4CnvKI2H
623Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGBbsNOxr9c
I pressed my face on the glass, and the people below were in some kind of library, reading books by my firelight. There was a darkness following some of the people, emanating from their books. They pulled closer to the pillar and tried to read by my light. Every now and then they nodded appreciatively at the pillar-bulb. Others had books that emanated their own light, and they walked around freely while they read.623Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwolRmloXNZ
623Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEVuZCm8Ph2
I wanted out, I wanted to read, I wanted not to burn. But I could! There was a book on the pillar, too!  I picked it up. It turned to ash and dispersed through the air. I looked out again, leaning on the glass, hoping someone would hold a book up to the panes for me.623Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡI1AWjZJSX5
623Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡM7UNYT9ocM
The glass went soft, and began to glow and drip. I melted a small hole in the dome with my hands. I looked down. There was no ladder or staircase. Desperately, I took a glorious jump. My flames spread out behind me, like burning butterfly wings. I flew!623Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡu63FdNwucs
623Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9KOBFrLl0x
No. I fell. Fire failed to save me from gravity. I flickered on the ground, unable to rise. People gathered around, and I cried for help. But they stood there around me, out of reach of the fire, reading their dark books.623Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNMieVgPy9R
623Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKS066b094a
None of the people with light books noticed us. They did not need my light. I faded, and the crowd drew in around me, closer, closer, closer. More light! They could not read unlighted books without light. More! The fire went out.623Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmnLdzZd30E
623Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtmf1EyuL8o
I was glowing, a mere coal. They leaned over me, shaking their heads. I was looking up out of a grave of their bitter resentment. Why would I not give them more light? With a sudden, jerking movement, they all turned away. They, the puppets, faced an innocent man, who was thoughtfully reading his book of light. A sudden snatch. The book fell to the ground. Swarming like ants, they dragged him up the pillar and lit him afire. Down crashed the dome. The ant walked away, reading their books.623Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwKUtHoQZJU
623Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiS5zoDCYrA
I remember. I read books, too. The pillar-light was so useful. A face of pure agony, of lonely betrayal, screamed for a moment against the glass. Fire, beautiful, useful fire, blossomed between the helpful glass and the unpleasant sight.623Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlsnLCYWSjI
623Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsGEao2swz7
My vision was so dark without fire. I want my fire back. Give me back my fire! I’m cold, small. Why, the fire has turned me to ash! There’s only a small piece of me left. A bright piece, bright without fire. It is... It is... a book? I am a book. The dead body of a poet, alive in the minds of those who read me. A book that lights itself, in a dark library of shadows.8964 copyright protection619ＰＥＮＡＮＡMt8Tpnn6nr 維尼

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