Ricci Scwarzler - Stoke

‘Oooo there’s a pot belly stove!’

‘Oooo how cool.’

They both jumped around in excitement.

‘Let’s get it on. It’s freezing here’, said Frannie.

‘Ok’ said Hanna opening the stove’s little door with the confidence of someone who’s an old hand at this.

‘Right so we put the wood in.’

‘No, it’s called timber. Wood is on trees.’

‘Oh ok.’

Their exuberance was a plenty. They selected twigs and logs and newspaper. Stuffed it in without too much care or experience and set it ablaze. They looked at it with complete satisfaction.

It started to die out.

‘Quick you have to poke it with the long thing,’ said Fran.

‘Yes, we have to "stoke" it,’ said Hanna, once again showing her arsonic knowledge.

It jumped into flame again. They stared at it, fully captivated by its dancing flames. It roared.

About an hour later they returned to see the house ablaze.  They stared at each other.

‘Oh, maybe we shouldn’t have left it on.’

‘We were only gone for an hour.’

‘Did you shut the little door to it?’

‘Oh maybe not…’ They stared at each other.

The moral to the story is, NEVER leave 5yos in charge of a house with a pot belly stove.