This is my entry for Sue Vincent‘s Thursday photo prompt Flame. #writephoto.
Flame The Haiku
Look into the flame
Hopes and dreams exposed the same
Turned to ash by morn.
Flame The Story
After a long vigil by the brazier, Cain found his mind wandering . The hopes he held for his family, the dreams he kept close to his heart were mingling in the glow of the flame.
Through the cold night he kept watch as the rest of the hamlet slept. Silence surrounded him like a cloak. It numbed him and he felt the cold and the worry slipping away from his shoulders. Just before dawn he fell into an uneasy sleep, filled with wolves and raiders.
Waking with a start he found the fire had died and the brazier was full of ashes. His head was swimming and he was full of guilt for drifting off. He looked back at the hamlet, it still stood smoke curling from the chimneys of the line of houses.
He saw his wife approaching with a hot drink. He shrugged off the fears of the night and greeted her with a smile.