The flame
Hello all. I do not want to give my name. Because I believe that I am to blame for the death of my grandfather….
I loved him. Most of the time I spent the whole vacations with him. He had a small farm. Nothing big. Nothing special. But for us kids it was great. An adventure.
He wasn’t sick or anything either. For his age still totally fit. Well…
What happened, you ask. A little over 5 years ago, I was walking in the woods with my parents. I ran ahead as usual. Through the woods. Over hill and dale.
Suddenly I discovered a cave that I had never seen before. The cave was somehow creepy. A strange coldness came out of the cave. Actually I wanted to turn around. But somehow I felt drawn in. It was almost as if the cave was calling to me. So I went inside.
At the end of a long corridor, I saw a light that magically attracted me. I came to another cave. A large vault. In the vault there was not one light but countless. There were hundreds of burning candles. Maybe even thousands. Some were burned down more, others less. Some were also already extinguished. It was a fascinating sight. What was this place? Kind of spooky.
One candle stood out. That is, actually, it didn’t. It was a candle like any other. But I felt an urge to take it in my hand. I looked at it for a long time, and as if by reflex, I blew it out. At that moment, thoughts of my grandfather flashed through my mind. A pleasantly warm daydream.
Suddenly I heard my parents calling from outside. I dropped the candle and hurried out of the cave.
Then in the evening my mother got a call. She turned white as a sheet. She got the news that her father had died that afternoon, as if out of the blue. But the wording she used to tell me froze me. She said, „Grandpa’s life light has gone out.“
I wanted to visit the cave again. But I did not find it. Could I have just imagined it? Could it all be coincidence? The cave was there. I know it!