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It's Just Not Christmas Until Something Catches Fire

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Twas the night before Christmas and all through the house,
Not a creature was stirring, not even my spouse.
The stockings were hidden in the closet with care,
Because I was sure that no one would look there.

The children were upstairs, sleeping away,
Too old to be looking for Santa and his sleigh.
Mr. W had fallen asleep watching TV,
So the only one conscious in the whole house was me.

Out of the corner of my eye I spied quite a sight,
From the star shaped decoration that held a tea light.
The soft mellow flame had grown quite a bit higher,
As the small cup of wax began to catch fire.


I blew and I blew, but it did me no good.
The air did not extinguish the flames as it should.
Mr. W woke from his short Christmas nap,
And rushed to my aid as quick as a snap.

He blew, just like me, which made matters worse,
Unsure what to do, we started to curse.
Mr. W grabbed the star, fast as a wink,
And rushed the whole mess right to the sink.

When he doused it with water, flames only jumped higher,
As the wax in the cup continued on fire.
It finally died out, with a sputter and hiss,
And we were able to return to our holiday bliss.

No damage was done, which was lucky, no doubt,
The fire could have spread had we not put it out.
When the ordeal was over a lesson was learned,
If you decorate with candles, you just might get burned.


Willoughby

*I should clarify, while I referred to this as a "decoration", it was a table top candle holder and not a tree decoration.  It was sitting on a side table when the fire started.  I would never have a lit candle hanging anywhere near the Christmas tree!!

Comments

Bill Lisleman said…
Lucky you!
I would never decorate with real candles. I did see a fireplace once that had candles in it instead of logs. That was different and very safe.
Do you have any firemen in your family? If you do I wouldn't tell them this.
December 29, 2011 at 4:37 PM
Betty Manousos said…
dear blog friend, wishing you and yours a very happy new year!

wish you the best for 2012!

big hugs!
xx
December 31, 2011 at 3:13 AM
Joanna Jenkins said…
Whoa! That is VERY scary, Willoughby. So glad everything worked out for the best. (Your poem was terrific.)

Wishing you and yours a wonderful and safe 2012!

xoxo jj
January 3, 2012 at 10:20 PM
Jenny said…
Scary and funny!

What a perfect little rhyme!

I've been so absent and I'm sorry for that but I hope it's not too late to send warm wishes for a creative, beautiful and flame-free 2012!

Hugs from Arizona.
January 6, 2012 at 9:59 AM
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