The dance of flames and matchsticks
In the burning of a matchstick, I see a beautiful story…… A story so intriguing, that one might start to contemplate one of the quantum purposes of our existence.
So, when a flame starts to engulf a matchstick, it is an empire that is being attacked…….attacked by an army of flames….. Moreover, it is being attacked firstly on its weakest spot(gunpowder end).
So, the army of flames starts off with the center containing maximum women and children(gunpowder)…..the matchstick lights up like a Christmas tree at first….and it always occurs and there’s no way to stop this first spark, as long as one has ignited the matchstick properly.
So, on to the next stage, the rate of attack of the flames on the matchstick kingdom depends upon the tilt of the matchstick..if the tilt is towards the direction of gravity, the rate becomes slower and the more it is tilted away, the flames burn more and attack more. This tells us that the matchstick or the army is a friend of gravity,……something that gets manipulated by gravity. Whereas, the direction of the flames remain the same irrespective of the direction of gravity, but instead dependent on the wind, on which the matchstick doesn’t depend upon.
So, each had their own weaknesses, the question now was, who could leverage who’s weakness to his own advantage…. The matchstick could kill the flame with lots of wind, and the flame could engulf the matchstick by eating more wood(i.e. When the matchstick is tilted towards gravity)
The bout has 2 outcomes…. One, (which is most common), is that a magical burst of wind which kills the flame. But, do notice that the flame, while dying, keeps getting more immune to wind…and finally dies leaving a mark on the matchstick empire…..and leaving it deprived of all the innocence and its women and children…….
The second outcome, however more interesting….. the flame’s rate of consumption of the matchstick increases with time, and finally the flame consumes the matchstick wholly. But here, once the matchstick is finished, the flame is also finished….. At the end of this one both of them die, In the first one, only one survives and that is the matchstick, even if it has to survive with half an empire along with a scar, to be attacked by future armies of the flame….
So, what do you think, is the flame stronger, or the matchstick??
