These aren’t words, they are characters. The thing they have in common, apart from their sound, is a sacrifice on a sacred altar. Fire gives us demons (we picture foxes and fireflies), an alluring fire that doesn’t belong in this world. And a fish gives us scales, because shiny things dislike chaos and prefer orderly rows. Or paths. To lure those that are willing to follow the lights.
Once upon a time there was a God Child, with an altar that had just been consecrated in his name. The first sacrifice had already been made, and the God Child had to put it to good use. He had already seen what other Gods did. The fires they gave to the foxes, to the fireflies at their service. To sow paths that would lure others to their perdition. But that God Child didn’t want to recreate the same paths. Ones that had already been walked more than a thousand times. That is why he chose a fish. He sowed fire in its skin, where it became more than a thousand shiny scales. Scales that the fish would shed and leave behind in its wake. Creating a new path, in its God Child’s name.
I wasn’t chosen by the God Child, but it’s better this way. I would only have been given a single fire, whereas this fish got a thousand scales. Once I catch it, I will have more than enough fire to last me a thousand firefly lives.
A God gave me these fires to lead people astray. But He must have forgotten that homes are a thing of the past. That to get lost one must have a place where one wants to return to.
Fires are just like birds. If you want them to sing for you, you have to cage them.
A God gave me a light and told me to attract people with it. And for some reason I thought that it would be to do some good, not just to waste their lives.
I don’t understand people. My God has already given me a light. No matter how many lamps they light on the street, no matter how much light they offer me, my loyalty won’t change. I will still use my God-given light to lead them astray.
I am a firefly. I used to be the only lamp the Gods created for their light. But people stole the fire, and now the world is full of forged lamps. Where does that leave me?
The Gods also give fire to the foxes, but fireflies like me are born with an empty space to put that fire, whereas they have to gouge out their eyes. These are the little things that remind me that we are their favorites.
The difference between a firefly and a fish chosen by a God to lead people astray? The firefly dies with its light, whereas the fish dies without its scales, without light, after having completed its task.
My trick for luring others? I have a light that shows them what they want to see. Open arms to welcome them when they are lost. Acceptance and a hole in my chest where my heart should be.
I willingly sacrificed my eyes to my God, to be given the light I would need to collect lost souls.
Maybe if I had wings like fireflies do or if I was slippery like a fish I wouldn’t have ended like this. Burdened with those that believe they have the right to follow the path to their own perdition on my back.
I have the good fortune of having a warm light that puts others to sleep. There is nothing better to lead others astray than offering them their dreams.
If I felt like it, I could be the only one in possession of the light. Catching fish is too easy. Almost as easy as swatting fireflies. If I don’t do it, it’s only because I don’t feel like it.
The difference is that I have spirit. Fireflies are only a lamp, they have no will of their own. And fish only blow bubbles, because their brain is full of air. I am sly. I have ambition. I know about temptation.
And that is why work cannot be the only thing you have in your life. I lead people astray too, but at the end of the day, when the light is gone, I don’t die along with it.
The best thing about those crumbs of light is that no bird will eat them. That there will always be people willing to be led astray.
I didn’t have a purpose. In an empty ocean, I used to swim from one place to another. But a God Child has given me light. He has told me to create a path. And now I have a purpose and a God I will always worship.
Only cowards hide behind excuses. Only cowards blame someone else for getting them lost. I hate having been chosen to be that excuse. I may have created the path, but they walked it themselves.
I have dedicated my whole life to lighting a path for others. But who has shown me the path? No one. In front of me there is and always will be darkness.
You may be lost but as long as there is light you will always have something pretty to hold on to. You should find comfort in the knowledge that it could have been worse. You could have ended up lost in the dark.
A God Child gave me scales, but you, little fox, you were given charisma. Only you know how to deceive others. I would waste that light, that is why we should team up. I will sow the path, I will make sure that you are seen, and you will lure them with your charm.
And now that I have spent all my scales what am I supposed to do? I would have preferred to spend my life swimming purposelessly in the sea. Without ever knowing the favor of a God. Because knowing that my usefulness has an expiration date is a cruel thing.
My God gave me light to create an alluring path that others would willingly follow. But He forgot to warn me, that I might want to follow that path too.
I thank my God Child every day for giving me scales that I can easily shed, instead of giving me a single light like the one fireflies have. Because I have seen what other fish do with their single light, and I don’t think that I would have been strong enough to resist the temptation of using it in the same manner.