once upon a time there was a boy named sherman. from a very early age sherman felt a small yellow flame welling up inside his chest. he did not know what fueled this flame or what he was supposed to do with it, so he kept it inside, and each day it grew hotter and hotter. when sherman was old enough to go to high school he felt his flame (which was now a deep orange color) trying to escape from his chest. he wanted to let it out, but he knew it wasn't time yet. he saw his friends using their flames, trading them for other flames, throwing them at each other and stepping on them. he saw many people being hurt by these flames, and he saw others who were so careless with their flames that they were reduced to little embers, barely even shedding warmth. sherman looked around at all these wasted flames and was very sad. sometimes people would try to make sherman feel bad by saying things like "strange boy, why don't you use your flame like everybody else? you will never know how your flame works if you don't start burning things." sherman would just shrug and say "it's not time yet." sherman knew that when the time came, his flame would be stronger than all the other flames, and it would burn with a natural light. he wanted to save his flame for somebody special; somebody who would cherish it's heat and keep it safe from rain and clumsy feet. day after day sherman searched for somebody that he could trust with his flame, for it was now red hot and began to cause his chest to ache. soon, sherman went away to college and met many nice people. "could any of these nice people hold my flame?" sherman thought to himself. sometimes sherman tried to convince himself that his flame was ready to be shown, but deep down he knew that he mustn't let it out yet. sometimes people tried to reach into shermans chest to steal his flame, and a few of them got close enough to feel it's heat, but none were allowed near enough to touch it. one day sherman thought that there wasn't a person on the planet that would need a flame as hot as his. he was afraid that if he let his flame (which was now very blue) out of his chest, it would burn whoever came near it. so he kept it inside, even though it was starting to burn so hot that he could barely breath. sherman was very very sad. he knew that this deep blue flame could not stay hidden much longer, but had lost hope of finding a safe place to put it. one day, as sherman was trying not to think about the fire in his chest, he spotted the most beautiful girl he had ever seen with eyes as blue as his flame. his heart lept, almost forcing the flame out of his bosom. but he didn't dare move, for fear she would notice his flame, which nobody was allowed to see. months went by and sherman tried very hard to forget about the girl with the blue eyes, for he did not want to burn something so beatiful, but he could not stop thinking about her. then one day something incredible happened. the girl with the big blue eyes as deep as the sea began to cry. she was very sad, for her flame had been damaged long ago, and she had given up hope of it ever burning strong again. when sherman heard the girl crying his flame burst out of his chest toward her, evaporating her tears into the air before they hit the ground. the girl opened her eyes and sherman's blue flame caught the wick of her heart, causing it to ignite with a steady fire. sherman knew this was where his flame belonged. as time went on, the beautiful girl's flame grew stronger and stronger...closer each day to sherman's blue flame. it wasn't long before the two flames touched, merging into one flame, the brightest and tallest of all the flames in the world. everywhere sherman and the blue-eyed girl went people stared in awe and envy of the true white flame that connected the two lovers. many tried to match this flame, using every kind of fuel and flammable material imaginable...but none came close to the depth and purity of this flame. sherman and the blue-eyed girl both knew that their flame was safe in the other's hands and it grew and grew and shed light everywhere they went. all the sadness that once enveloped both of these lovers lives was gone and every time it tried to creep back in, it was incinerated in an instant by the great white flame. the love between them was insatiable and true, more fierce than the wind of a thousand sand-storms. it could not be monitered or controlled, a force that is far beyond understanding. sherman and the beautiful blue-eyed girl were never lonely again, and their love for one another still continues and will not cease until man finds the end of a circle. THE END.