Long time ago, all the candles in the universe lived in a land called Candleland. The different colours living in Candleland made it colourful. There was a beautiful scenery of Royal Palm avenue, flowers and green hills. Each house was painted to match the candle colour living in it and families were named according to their colours. There were the White, Red, Yellow, Green, Magenta, Blue, Purple, Peach and Orange families. Candleland was indeed a beautiful city.
In spite of this beauty, Darkness and Fire were their two enemies who always tried to invade their land. These two were friends and they moved hand in hand. History had it that, whenever Darkness appeared in Candleland, Fire would sneak in with one mission, to melt the candles into an ugly and irrecoverable state. Due to their destructive nature, they were nicknamed “the dreadful duo”. To save Candleland from their hands, the candles devised a plan. After every sunset, one family would go out, light their wicks and stand at vantage points to keep the whole land bright. As long as they kept this tradition, Darkness and Fire stayed far from their land.
However, the White family had a weakness which made them incapable of guarding the land like the other families.
“Grandpa, why don’t we go out at night to light our wicks like every other family? I thought you said it’s a survival technique. Why are we never given that opportunity?” Little white candle asked.
“My dear, it’s true I said that but, we have a weakness as a family. All white candles have a weak wick. This makes us unable to keep our lights on for long. You know what it means if our lights go off at night, right? Darkness and Fire will invade our land and destroy all of us.” He explained.
“So, is it going to be like this for the rest of our lives? I think there should be a way out!” said Little candle hopefully.
“I pray so. ” he replied as they retired to bed.
Early the next morning, all family heads were summoned by the King.
“My people, I have received distressing news. I’ve been reliably informed that a strong wind will be blowing over our land tomorrow. You all gathered here know the implication of this; our lights could go off and the dreadful duo could visit our land. We must therefore come together to fight for our lives and land.” He said.
This news got the whole land very worried.
Each family head prepared their members for that night.
When the dreaded night came, all the candles moved out at the command of their heads. They stood at vantage points for the biggest task of their lives.
By midnight, the wind started blowing. It blew harder with every passing second. As expected, White candles were the first to go off. The others fought hard to keep their lights on but the strength of the wind was too great. When the light of the last family went off, the whole land cried in agony. As they were weeping, a light started shining. Everyone turned their attention towards it. To their disbelief, the light was coming from the White family. They were all glowing with much brilliance; an ability they never knew they had. The absence of the candlelight had revealed their inherent light.
“So, we’re not useless after all!” their family head exclaimed.
“What’s going on? Why are we shining? Can someone explain to us?” Asked some of them.
“We don’t have enough time to answer all your questions. Hurry, move into their midst and keep the land bright” Their family head said.
Every Dick, Tom and Harry hastened to do it while the other families looked on in utter confusion. At that same time, Fire was closing in on them. Fortunately, by the time he got to the hills of Candleland, the whole place was bright. The glow of the White family had driven out Darkness. Fire had no option than to angrily turn back. As he turned back, the whole land shouted for joy. They had been saved from destruction. This is how the weak wick family of White candles saved Candleland and earned the name Glow White.
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Read – Unique Snowflake – A Children’s Literature by Rambelani Mbedzi – Zimbabwe
