In The Beginning

It all started with The Bonfire.

Small heaps of dried maple leaves.  Matted, mottled, decaying, unrecognizable in their current form.  The surprise of thin sheets of ice interspersed.

Then, bulkier heaps toppled onto the Original Heap.  A more diverse mix this time with twigs and wrinkled crab apple berries.  A large dollop of dead-headed mums.
  
It became more interesting when Fire Was Kindled - at first flickering, then a sppft, then billowing smoke, finally the triumph of Flame.  The Bonfire was all-consuming, all-powerful, non-discriminating.

When all seemed to be over, a cloud of gray presided over the Original Heap, now leveled.  

I declared it finished and proceeded to leave.  

But there was a glimpse of a spark.  

I knew then, and really have known it all along, that all it would take was that spark to keep The Fire going.