The ember’s light wavered for a moment.

Its heat flickered as if caught between two paths, unsure which way was the right one to take.

A small golden flame curled around the ember, still burning bright in the darkness it pierced. The smallest of rebellions, prodding the never ending night to smother it.

Night’s shadows swirled like a whirlpool around the brightness of this small flaming ember whose core glimmered in a dancing taunt.

The darkness grew tight around it until its black hands swept in to choke the ember.

But its fingers singed and sizzled as it neared.

Darkness pulled back like a tide that recedes from the shore.

The small ember flared brighter.

Darkness glared back as it coalesced in a tsunami to drown it.

Blackness overwhelmed it, every inch pulled into murky depths.

The flame blinked out in surprise, the ember changing from bright yellow to an autumn orange until its edges became blackened.

Its heat sputtered, a wheezed last breath.

Shadowy hands grazed the ember with a hope it would be darkened faster.

This small ember faded amidst the darkness, from its bright colors and blazing heat to a lifeless lump of coal.

The dark swelled in victory as the ember sat cool and blackened. During the onslaught, it was unaware the ember's core had gathered and compacted its remnants of light into the smallest spark within its depths.

The ember readied itself to ignite, to burst forth, to flare its luminescence into a beacon the darkness could never overcome.

It remained, cool and silent, biding its time within the night.