Rituals

TSL Pandorathon 5

"A strong gust of wind blew out my/the candle" Use this sentence to weave your own literary piece around it in prose or poetry.

Given by Vandita Dharni

Rituals

We all have rituals in our daily lives. For me as a long distance student, I would come down to my writing pen, my “pigeon hole” as my daughter called it, every morning and light three incense sticks chosen very carefully depending on my mood of the day and light a candle, a fat long lasting candle. The incense sticks were just to help me get into a different level of consciousness, smell being my finest sense, very quickly they did their duty, and disappeared into ashes as I started on my writing. The candle was then my sole companion, for the rest of the day, witness of my laughs at a humorous memoir in my research or my tears on a gruesome journey of someone dead for centuries. No one but my faithful candle ever knew about those intimate moments. All day long its flame was there guiding me, pushing me, encouraging me to search, to read, to write. It never criticised, never shouted me, it was a soothing presence working within the labyrinth of my mind , toward the final goal, completion and submission. When the call, diner is served, came, I would blow out my candle softly and wished it a good night rest. When the final day came it was with teary sighs that I blew it out for the last time, not with "a strong gust of wind”.

Lucette C. Bailliet
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