The Little Matchgirl

Short tale: The Little Matchgirl

Enjoy it! Here’s the audio story!

It was a cold and snowy New Year’s Eve. People were passing by in their warm coats, gloves and scarves, all in a hurry to get somewhere.

Some were already running late and rushing to get home and others were going somewhere for events to celebrate the New Year. Children were running through the streets throwing snowballs at each other.

Of course, they enjoyed the snow the most. They played with each other laughing hysterically in the streets.

But in the street there was a very different little girl, those who were playing.

This little girl was standing in the middle of the street, watching the other children play. She did not have a hat to protect her from the cold like the others. Her clothes were light and torn, and the slippers on her feet did not fit.

They were big, she held a box in her hands, shivering with cold, the little girl barely noticed a car coming straight at her. Hey girl, stay on the sidewalk. You’re going to get run over.

The girl ran for the sidewalk at that instant, but as she ran the big slippers on her feet fell off.

When she reached the sidewalk she turned and looked, but saw a boy running with her sneakers. My sneakers she screamed and ran after him, but the boy quickly ran away. hey stop!

With no choice but to walk barefoot, she sought shelter by a wall.

She opened the box she carried with her and placed it on the floor. She searched through the box full of matches, eyes watering from the cold. This was the little match girl, but she couldn’t even sell a single box of matches that day, if she managed to make a sale and earn some money, she could go home and at least have a bowl of hot soup with her mother. So he began to shout in his thin, trembling voice coldly and sadly.

Matches! Matches! Someone wants matches! No one on the street paid any attention to her, so she sat down by the wall. His fingers began to ache with cold. He could no longer stand the pain. He had to get warm somehow. He opened a box and took out a match.

Her fingers were pale and she could barely hold a match in her shaking hands, she struck the match on the wall and suddenly a warm orange light surrounded her.

The poor girl passed the match from one hand to the other to warm her fingers, her hands were no longer cold. She found herself in front of a lit stove. She looked at the fire and began to dream. She was sitting in front of a huge stove in a beautiful room. She was wearing a wool sweater, furry boots on her feet and a hat on her head. It was so hot that she thought about sweating, but suddenly the match went out.

When the match went out, her sweet dreams faded too. Her little fingers began to freeze and feel pain again. Then she struck another match. At that moment, a cold wind blew. The girl turned to the wall to keep the match lit and covered the fire with her hands.

As she looked at it, the wall suddenly disappeared and opened. There was a large room inside. There was all kinds of food along a table with a white tablecloth and the silver candlesticks on the table lit up the room like daylight.

I look at the table and see that in the middle of the table was a piece of grilled meat.

Immediately, he took a piece and put it in his mouth. Suddenly she was no longer hungry. The little girl wanted to take another piece of meat. She reached out her hand, but the match she was holding suddenly went out. The poor little girl burned her hand and threw the match away.

As soon as she threw the match away, the feast on the table and the room disappeared and the wall reappeared. The little girl lit another match, now she was in an even bigger dream.

She was sitting under a tree on a summer night, looking at the stars in the sky. It was still warm, even though it was nighttime. The little girl couldn’t stop looking at the stars. She had never seen the sky and the stars so clear and bright as they were now, and suddenly she saw a shooting star. She thought There goes another one of us flying off into eternity. These were actually her grandmother’s words.

At that moment she saw her grandmother appear.

Whenever you see a shooting star, you should know that someone will take its place dear, her grandmother stood in front of her for a brief moment and then, when she disappeared, the little match girl, called out to her.

Grandma stop, don’t go away, don’t go away please, I really miss you.

In order to see her grandmother once again, she lit another match. She forgot that she was freezing cold in the middle of the street and began to dream once again. Every time she lit a match she felt as if she was seeing her grandmother and hearing her voice. The girl lit another match. Her surroundings lit up like daylight. She had never seen her grandmother so beautiful before. Her loving face made her forget the cold and all the bitter days she had spent. She didn’t want this moment to end, so she hurriedly lit the last match. Her grandmother appeared in front of her once again. She reached out her arms to hold the little match girl’s hand, they began to fly into the sky together. The little girl felt a sudden relief. There was no more cold or hunger at that moment. Another shooting star flew brightly.

In the morning, people passing by on the street saw the little match girl sitting by the wall, her eyes closed, but with a sweet smile on her face. She had many burnt matches around her, those matches that with their flames gave life to her dreams, those that no one could ever dream again.

END

Source: Adisebaba