Cornwallis City, the capital of the Hayward Empire, was the most dazzling star among many cities in the south.
Unfortunately, with the collapse of the great empire that has ruled the whole southern border for hundreds of years due to a witch rebellion, this former star city also quickly declined. Today, more than ten years later, it has become a dilapidated third class city. Even the air is full of decayed and stale atmosphere, with no vitality.
This is the last day of the year. The weather is extremely cold, and it's snowing heavily. Most people walking on the roads in Cornwallis are walking with their heads bowed. At the moment, they just want to go home as soon as possible, light the fireplace, and then collapse on the warm sofa near the fireplace. It's better to have a cup of hot coffee again, Heal the fatigue accumulated in the past year in the happy time with family.
In short, no one wants to stay outside the freezing place for even one more minute.
"Selling matches, selling matches. Does anyone want to buy matches?"
A little girl dressed in rags walked helplessly in the street, shouting hard as she walked.
Even in the snowy winter, she still wears a pair of slippers on her feet. The slippers don't fit her very well. This size is too big for a little girl, probably because she is wearing her mother's shoes. In the big slippers, the girl's white feet gradually turn green and red under the background of the snow.
Even though the little girl has tried very hard to shout, who will pay attention to her?
This is the last day of the year, and it is also the most important festival in the whole continent, the Liuhuo Day, and the Christmas Day of the great master of firewood.
The excitement of the festival has also inspired a little vitality in this declining city. Most of the shops on both sides of the street are decorated joyfully. The atmosphere of the festival has made even the little shops that were not visited in the past have many more customers today. People in the shops are busy selecting gifts for their families, No one will waste more time on this poor little match girl.
Besides, in this age when gas lamps and lighters have been popularized, who will need matches.
The clock at the top of the church in the city struck the bell for noon, but the poor little girl still didn't sell a match.
She has not eaten for more than a day and is extremely hungry now.
The little girl stared at the window of a bakery on the roadside.
Inside, the baker was putting fresh baked bread on the shelf, and he was surrounded by two children about the same age as the little girl, who were opening presents around the Christmas tree. They were wearing beautiful new clothes, and their faces were full of happiness.
The little girl who was addicted to the delicious food and warm atmosphere in the room did not see that on the street not far away, a four wheeled carriage pulled by four white horses was coming at a high speed. It was late when she finally heard the sound of the driver ringing the bell.
Fortunately, the driver's driving skills were very good. At the critical moment, he let the carriage avoid the little girl and just passed her by. But even so, the frightened little girl still sat down on the ground.
The melting snow made the little girl's shabby clothes wet, and the cold wind on the street made the poor little girl shiver.
The coachman swore away all the way. For a long time, the little girl got up from the ground and wanted to pick up the slippers that fell off because of a fall.
However, at this time, a group of brightly dressed bear children ran past the little girl, and they took away her slippers. This was just an insignificant prank for them. They wore funny faces and went away. No one would care what would happen to the helpless little girl.
The weak, poor, and hungry little girl curled up. She pulled her torn pants to warm her blue and purple feet. However, the ill fitting short pants could not cover the girl's feet. She could only warm the colder feet with cold hands.
Without slippers, the little girl's frozen feet could not support her to continue walking.
The little girl in despair could only plead with passers-by on the roadside.
"Does anyone buy a match? Uncle and aunt, please buy a match..."
The pathetic pleading didn't change the little girl's fate. When the sky was getting dark, the little girl still couldn't sell a match. Those passers-by who were being begged by her showed no mercy. They even felt that the girl who couldn't read the atmosphere had spoiled their good mood in the festival.
There were fewer and fewer people on the road, and the little girl's heart became desperate. Even though it was dark, she didn't want to go home, because the grandmother and mother who loved her in the family had died, leaving only her father, and the drunken father would only beat her because she didn't earn money for wine.
Because it is the day of flowing fire, according to the tradition, the street lights on both sides of the street today will not go out. These lights will stay on all night. My mother once told the girl that every day, all lights in the whole continent will be lit to illuminate the darkness. If someone can look down from the sky, he will see the rivers formed by countless lights, This is also the origin of the name Liuhuo Day.
Of course, the little girl doesn't care how beautiful the Liuhuo that spreads all over the continent will be. She just thinks that if she stays under the lights, she may be found by her father. So in order to prevent being beaten, the little girl went into a dark alley to avoid the bright and dark lights.
The little girl who was crouching in the darkness was afraid again. She was afraid of the darkness surrounding her, and felt even colder because of the darkness. Her hands and feet were almost frozen.
The trembling little girl touched her pocket. She took out a match and tried to wipe it on the wall. The flame of the match should bring her a little warmth, but did she dare?
This is the match that her father asked her to sell. If her father knew that she lit it casually, the poor little girl could not believe how angry her father would be.
The frozen hand gradually became unable to support, and the hand naturally slipped down. The little girl swore that it was really just a coincidence. The match in her hand just rubbed against the wall, and the faint light came on.
The flame, just like a small candle, was so warm that it attracted all the attention of the little girl at that moment. Under the light of the fire, the blue eyes of the girl seemed to twinkle.
She felt as if she had come to a fireplace. The firewood in the fireplace was much more vigorous and warm. She wanted to get closer so that the whole body could warm up. However, the fireplace went out and disappeared.
In the little girl's hand, there was only a match stem that was about to burn out.
This time, without hesitation, the little girl took out a match again, the bright flame was lit in the dark alley again, a table full of food, a huge Christmas tree decorated with gifts seemed to appear in front of her, she happily ate food, opened the gifts, The girl's beautiful face, which was about to cry, showed a happy smile.
The flame extinguished again, but soon ignited again.
This time, the little girl appeared in front of her grandmother and mother, who had already gone to heaven. They opened their hands, as if waiting for her to fall into their arms as before.
"Mom, grandma, are you here to pick me up?"
The little girl happily asked her family, who had not seen her for a long time.
Mom and Grandma nodded.
"Of course, silly boy, we are here to pick you up. Just follow us, you...."
The words stopped suddenly, and the figures of mother and grandmother disappeared in the darkness.
The little girl quickly struck a match again, but her mother and grandmother did not appear again.
"As long as I follow you, what will happen to me?"
The little flame went out again, and the little girl asked the empty darkness with some grievances.
"As long as you follow them, I won't eat you."
In the dark, which should be empty, a terrible voice answered the little girl like this.
The little girl struck the match again in horror, and the faint light reflected a big face that had come to her eyes, a horrible, monster face with indescribable breath.
"You saw me."
The monster's big mouth cracked open with a smile, revealing dagger like teeth.
"You shouldn't have seen me."
The monster said to the little girl.
