It's Just Not Christmas Until Something Catches Fire

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!!