Stay The Burning

Searching for shelter, two women find an abandoned barn. Inside, they play a dangerous game to prove their love. Emma realises that she would set herself on fire for her lover, but her lover would only run her fingertips above the flame, just to laugh when Emma flinches.

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RONKE: It doesn't hurt.

RONKE: See? You just have to do it quickly.

RONKE: If you do it, then I'll give you a kiss.

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Crooked matches littered the floor around us. It had taken a while to light the candle. The wick was short, and our match box’s striking surface had worn thin.

“It doesn’t hurt,” she promised.

I watched her fingertips stroke the flame. It bucked at her touch, stuttered, and recovered. The glow cast her shadow onto the floor, throwing the slightest movement into a dazzling gesture.

“See? You just have to do it quickly. It won’t burn you.”

I swooped my hand over the candle, a good few inches above the flame. She laughed. It was the most beautiful sound I’d ever heard.

“Come on, do it properly,” she teased. “I’ll give you a kiss if you do.”

Without a second thought, I held my hand directly over the flame until my palm blistered.

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2017

London Short Film Festival
Kinofilm