We still have time, I know, to light the signal, to shake our fists in final defiance. This is my calling — my call. I strike the last match and watch it burn down.
This post was made in response to the Trifecta Writing Challenge weekend prompt, in which the editors asked for exactly thirty-three words written in first person narrative.
Christine Hanolsy 
I love this! I think most of us have felt this way at one time or another…
As a newbie, I thank you for your nice welcome, too!
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Thanks for stopping by and reading, Valerie! I hope to see more of you at Trifecta.
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Life is nothing without something to stand up for, something to rally for or against.
I loved the voice and the strength in it.
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Thank you, Kir. I think my intent got lost in my word choice. I saw her as actually giving up – letting the match burn out. Which may be a small act of defiance on its own, of course.
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Instead of going down fighting you have risen to the call with your prompt. Well done.
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🙂 Thank you! I adore these short prompts – they make me focus.
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🙂 Ditto!
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not only is this a first person narrative, it has a wonderful sense of power and the feeling of “me, myself and I”.
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Thanks, Habiba! I love writing fiction in the first person.
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I love the pent up expression here !!!
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Thanks! She has a lot of pent up emotions, I think.
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Wow!I could feel the power rippling underneath-great piece:-)
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Thanks very much – I don’t usually convey “power” very well, and it’s nice to see that that came through.
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🙂
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Powerful! The final line says it all!
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Thanks, Gina! It didn’t quite work the way I wanted it to, but people seem to like it as it is.
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Rebel yell!
Well written
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Thank you, Renee!
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Final defiance yeeeeah!!! (: Love this piece.
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Thanks, Draug! Only, I didn’t quite capture what I was trying to say. Defiance, yes, but she didn’t actually light that fire. She gave up, or betrayed the folks depending on her.
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nicely done!
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Thanks, Barbara!
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wow. annbennett2.blogspot.com
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Thank you!
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The power of a gesture.
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Thanks, Kymm! I absolutely loved your piece this week.
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Defiance! Rebellion! All words that spring to mind when reading your story. Nice job creating something that would cause such an instantaneous reaction. 🙂
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Thanks! I love that I provoked a response! 🙂 Only, I was actually going a little more for “betrayal,” as in, “I should have lit the fire, but instead I let the last match burn out.” Oh, well, just goes to show that what you intend and what people read can be two different things.
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“Watch it burn down.” I love that. It could apply to so many things. Great one!
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Thanks, Lumdog! I had a particular mood I was trying to create; not sure if it worked, though.
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Strike up the Rage Against The Machine!
I like the muscularity of this and that final sentence is great.
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Thanks, Lance! You know, reading through all the lovely comments on my piece, I’m realizing that my intent didn’t quite come through. She didn’t actually light that signal fire – she let the match burn out. Which I suppose is a kind of defiance in and of itself. And goes to show how choosing the wrong word can change the entire piece. I should have written “I strike the last match and watch it flicker out,” or “burn out.”
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yeah, I see that, now. With small pieces, that’s easy to do. I still loved it.
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Oh, I love this! So visceral and so well written. Great use of the prompt!
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Thanks, Suzanne – I loved yours too!
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I love that this broad challenge has welcomed so many different narratives.
I really like the brutal finality of this. Well written. 🙂
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Thank you! I struggled a bit to get it into 33 words.
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