The Tallow Candle

The Tallow Candle
A blazing crucible served as the cradle for a little tallow candle, boiling and bubbling inside it.
Out of that warm cradle came the candle, tall and slender, all in one piece and dazzling white.
Those who saw her then thought she had a bright and hopeful future ahead of her.
Filled with a burning eagerness for life, she ended up in a large house full of hidden corners, a whole new and promising world for the young candle.
- What an exciting place!
- I can't wait to discover what the future has in store for me!
She spent her first days in the upper part of the house:
It was a peaceful place, with elegant tables, orderly desks, shelves where books rested, and toys proud of their purpose.
Every object and every toy had its place and its role: the books taught, the music box entertained, and the tin soldiers watched over the proper order of things.
Everything around her seemed to promise a brilliant destiny.
However, something happened that completely changed her good fortune.
Suddenly, a rough movement on the table where she stood sent her rolling across the surface.
The objects and toys tried to help her, but they could not reach her.
The little candle plunged into the void.
- Where am I?
she wondered, bewildered. She looked around: the little candle had fallen to the lower part of the house.
- Hello, could you help me?
she said, moving closer to a broken compass.
- I'm lost. I fell from a table I was on...
- Lost? Aren't we all?
the compass interrupted.
- We spend our lives believing we are heading in one direction, only to discover we have not moved at all.
Lost! We are all lost!
And after saying this, he ran off in circles.
- I think that one has lost his bearings.
Everyone down there seemed to be hurrying from one place to another, always busy.
There were abandoned shoes, torn books trading ripped-out pages, and a toy train arriving along rusty, dusty tracks.
Hello, could you help me? I need to get back upstairs.
I'm sorry, but I can't.
The floor of the house was a chaotic, wild kingdom, completely different from anything she had known until then.
From the upper part of the house? I very much doubt a candle as dirty as you came from up there.
said a pair of glasses with cracked lenses.
The little candle sadly discovered that a few stains had appeared on her spotless white skin.
It seemed nobody had time to help her.
So you want to get back up there. Perhaps I can help you.
said a torn glove who had heard her asking another object for help. The glove was white, used a toothpick as a cane, and wore a top hat.
- Thank you. It doesn't seem like anyone here can help me.
- I understand. The kingdom of the floor can be a wild and chaotic place. It is not suitable for a candle as white as you.
The little candle was glad someone appreciated her whiteness in spite of the stains.
- Perhaps we can help each other. My friends and I have some jobs to do. If you come with us, we will take you to the place where you deserve to be.
Without hesitation, the little candle accepted, thrilled by the chance to have new friends and to go back home.
- You may call me... Mr. Glove.
he said, offering her one of his fingers to shake.
Mr. Glove introduced her to his friends: a pencil sharpener who used his blade for anything except sharpening pencils, and a broken pocket watch.
- Welcome to the gang.
said the watch.
In this house, the ones in charge are those who know how to seize an opportunity.
The little candle began to feel real hope that she had found her place.
And so she began taking part in Mr. Glove's gang activities. The gang used her to melt small portions of tallow and seal drawers, jamming doors and causing havoc.
She gradually forgot the upper part of the house, throwing herself into things that had nothing to do with her true nature, desperately searching in them for the promised purpose.
Little by little, her original shine became covered with a blackish crust, and, confused, she began to lose sight of her own purity.
Mr. Glove took them to the shoe harbor, where the polish workers cleaned all kinds of footwear.
- Hey, Bob! Bring that shoe down here!
- We need a lace for the train heist.
The candle will make a mess of the shoes with her tallow.
The workers will have to clean it up.
Meanwhile, the pencil sharpener will use the distraction to cut off part of the lace.
So they set out to do it.
But just as the little candle was about to mark the surface of the shoes in white, she discovered that the black coating had spread over her whole body and that no visible white remained, so she could not do it.
- You useless piece of junk.
said the pencil sharpener.
- But...!
- If you can't help us, you are not one of us.
Get out!
The other objects turned their backs on her and prepared to leave.
- WAIT!
You promised you would help me get back upstairs.
- Upstairs? You? You are nothing but a dirty, useless candle.
- They would never accept you.
The little candle was heartbroken.
The silhouette of a new character appeared before them.
It was a metal object, made in one piece and somewhat worn, with a hat-shaped cap that opened and closed with every step, making a metallic sound.
- Caught red-handed again, Torn Glove?
It was Lighter.
A solitary, adventurous object whom the torn glove feared.
Lighter wandered from place to place and knew every inch of that chaotic world.
To many, he was a legend.
To others, he was simply an old lighter who lit the necessary fires, like the hearth or the kitchen stove.
- Lighter...
Why don't you mind your own business?
- I would like to know what you have in your hand.
he said, removing his hat, and with it kindling a flame.
- Hmmm... I see you haven't lost your spark.
- Sorry, old friend. You know I have never had a light touch with these matters.
Mr. Glove could not stand being laughed at, much less being called Torn Glove.
- Let's go. It seems we are not welcome here.
And with that, they left.
- Hey, friend, why are you so heartbroken?
- I am good for nothing, and there is nothing good or pure left in me.
- You don't look like you belong to a gang like Torn Glove's. How did you end up with them?
- They promised they would help me get back to the upper part of the house if I helped them, but it wasn't true.
- You know, I don't think a little dirt makes you a bad candle.
said Lighter, who cared very little about those stains.
- But tell me something. What were they planning?
- He said we had to take over the train and its coal.
Lighter was alarmed when he heard this, and began giving off sparks.
- The train! That train supplies the whole house!
If he gets hold of it, it will be a disaster!
You have to help me, Little Candle!
The little candle told him everything she knew about Torn Glove's plans. And without wasting time, they set off to stop him.
They were in the passenger car of the train, which was racing along at full speed.
So far, they had seen nothing strange.
- There! Climbing onto the cargo car!
The little candle pointed to the pencil sharpener's shadow as he climbed up one side of the train.
The lighter and the candle left the car and climbed into the freight car, where the coal was piled up.
With the wind blowing against them and the motion of the train shaking the cars, it was very hard to keep their balance.
- Well, look who's back!
The pencil sharpener stood behind them threateningly, blade in hand.
- I will turn you into little candle pieces.
- Quick, Little Candle. You go to the locomotive. I am afraid Torn Glove is heading there.
I will take care of this one.
Little Candle headed toward the first car while the lighter faced the pencil sharpener.
Just as she was about to arrive, the broken watch stepped into her path.
- You did not seize your chance in time, little candle!
- You have missed this train.
But Little Candle did not stop. Instead, she launched herself rolling sideways, striking the watch and sending him flying through the air.
- AAAAAAAAAHH!!
The little candle kept rolling until she tumbled off the train. However, at the last moment, a hand caught her by the arm.
- I'VE GOT YOU!
It was the lighter, who helped her climb back up.
- If this train and its cargo are not mine, they will belong to no one!
Torn Glove was inside the locomotive cab.
It was too late. At that moment, the glove pushed the speed lever to its maximum, and then broke the brake lever.
- Oh no!
If the train goes this fast, it will crash!
IT WILL BRING DOWN THE WHOLE HOUSE!
The little candle knew she had to do something. The fate of her home was at stake.
- Let me lend you a hand!!!
Without thinking twice, she threw herself down in front of the train.
- NOOO!
The train gave a violent jolt and then began to stop slowly, as if it were skidding over something.
Once it had stopped, the lighter jumped down.
Steam and smoke poured from the engine and the overheated wheels, blocking his view.
- Little Candle?
he said as he searched for her, fearing the worst.
- Looks like we did it.
And there, beside the front of the train, was the little tallow candle. The impact with the wheels had knocked away part of her black shell, revealing the whiteness inside her.
- I told you, Little Candle!
Deep down, you were always as white as ever.
Now it is time to go home.
- But what about Torn Glove?
- He escaped... for the moment. I will catch him at one of his tricks sooner or later.
- I don't understand why he does this. It could have been the end for everyone.
- Well, some people think they are no longer useful or good for anyone, and now they live only for themselves.
- Ever since Mrs. Glove was lost, Torn Glove has not been the same.
After the victory, the lighter led Little Candle up to the upper part of the house.
There, he passionately told the story of the adventure and how the little candle had saved the whole house.
- And then Little Candle hurled herself at the broken watch to stop the train!
It was amazing!
Thrilled by the story, the objects and toys gave her a position of great importance.
With great emotion, the little tallow candle took her place on the desk, in a beautiful candleholder.
Then the lighter removed his hat and, with a snap, drew a flame from inside it, lighting Little Candle's wick.
The first melted drops fell, and with them, the rest of the dirt still clinging to her was washed away.
And so the little tallow candle gave light to many, helping them find their way. Under her glow, great stories were told, and she shone for a long time, to her own joy and to the joy of the other creatures.
And that is all... for the moment.
Til the next tale.