For some people, childhood memories never fade away. They linger but asleep. Sometimes, you remember them when you experience certain things in life – Things like a simple lunch I had at the office with my colleagues just few days ago. Men used to smoke their cigarettes after lunch, but not me, cause I don’t smoke. Suddenly, in the middle of our conversations, there was one thing that caught my attention. A blue-and-yellow-colored matchbox full of matchsticks was laid on the table. Not many people used it nowadays because there’re so many easy-to-use lighters sold everywhere.
The match reminded me of a story that I used to listen when I was little. There was this cassette that contained a bedtime story about a little girl selling matches on a windy and snowy night – One of the saddest stories I’d ever heard in my entire life. Some of you may already hear / read about this, but let me share it anyway. There’re many versions of this story, but this is what I remember. Since it was only a cassette, you could only listen to the sound (dialogs, songs, and music). But I’ll try to tell you the story here by writing it.
It was a cold, windy and snowy night at Christmas when a little girl was walking around alone in the streets selling matches to the people around. The wind is so strong and snows fell to the ground. Nobody noticed a little girl trying her best to offer and sell matches just to get something to fill her empty stomach. Having no one to give her shelter and no home to give her warmth and comfort, she struggled to face the cold snowy night.
“Sir, will you buy these matches? Madam, please buy these matches. It can warm your body and light your fireplace at home. Please, buy one or two for your family. Does anyone need matches? ” The girl kept repeating those words but found no one who’s interested.
The night was getting late and the cold weather pierced to the bone. People started to go home and entered their houses. But the girl still could not sell even a single matchbox. She could barely walk as her stomach cried for food and her body started to weaken. She still tried to knock on doors to see if she could sell her matches. But no one wanted her matches because they had their own fireplace at their houses. They didn’t even realize that the girl was all alone and her body nearly frozen.
As the night got colder and colder, the little girl did not have anymore strength to walk further. So she tried to find a safe and warm place to get some rest. Tears fell from her eyes along with prayers that came out from her tiny frozen lips. “I’m dreaming of a warm house, full of food. God, I’m so cold and hungry.”
Suddenly, she had an idea to use her own matches to warm up her own body. She pulled one matchstick from the box and lighted it up. The fire emerged from the match but quickly washed away by the cold wind. “Oh, still cold, I’ll try to light three matchsticks all at once.” The little girl said. The fire quickly lighted up the matchsticks finally giving her warmth. The warm sensation brought up pleasant memories throughout her life – But not for long because her body started to freeze again as the matchsticks were burnt up.
One last hope, she tried to light up all of her matches. The fire gave her warmth that made her smile. It was a sad smile, knowing that no more matches left. “God, I’m so cold and hungry… Cold… Hungry…”
As the last match was burnt up, she fell to the ground. “I’m so sleepy… so sleepy.” Soon enough, she had visions – Visions of her grandmother who actually had passed away long ago, standing at a nice place with lots of food and warmth. “Grandma, is that you? Oh grandma, please take me with you… I am so cold…”
The little girl finally fell asleep and had the most beautiful dream ever. It’s a dream where she was with her grandmother – the person who truly loves her. They flew to a place, full of warmth and delicious food. She felt warm and happy – Little did she know it was a sleep that she would never wake up again.
In the next morning, people found her frozen body lying on the street with burnt matches scattered around her. Her heart stopped beating but there was a smile on her face. She’s now on a place far away from here… Sleep well little girl, no more hunger, no more pain – you won’t need anymore matches…
Ivan the Freelancer
The experts made a forecast that the ocean level will increase due to the rise of temperature of our climate. The ice will melt and many islands, cities, and nations will be threatened by massive and deadly flood. This catastrophe is close in the near future and we all know that. The question is how close and how bad?
A Belgian architect named Vincent Callebaut managed to create ideas and put them into pictures and words. The ideas, pictures, and words turned into a project called “Lilypad a Floating Ecopolis for Climate Refugees”. No, it’s not a flower or a plant. It’s a gigantic amphibian city – half aquatic, half terrestrial.
This awesome floating city is said to be able to accommodate 50.000 people, pollution free, and have its own abilities to produce all the resources we need – even recycle our wastes. The design of this floating city is inspired by Amazonia Victoria Regia leaf. Imagine if we can build many of these floating Lilypad cities…
Ivan the Freelancer
