The riddle-solving match

“Feed me and I will live…”, murmured the match, then opened the door and walked outside to get some air and think more clearly. The more he walked, however, the stronger his fire became from the gentle breeze. So weird was the sight, that everyone avoided him.

At some point, he met with two flintstones, who became very excited when they saw the flame, as they had been rubbing each other for many days without managing to start a fire so as to cook. They always did so while being wet. “Maybe if you ask the fish, they will find a solution to your riddle”, the flintstones told him, then escorted him to the nearest beach. The match was excited to hear it, thinking that some mermaid or other magical fish with a human voice would be waiting at the seashore to tell him the answer. So, he agreed without suspecting anything.

As soon as they were there, however, the match became curious as to why there was nobody to be found. He, then, took out a fishing rod, placed a worm on the hook for a bait, and sat patiently to receive a bite from the first fish that would solve the riddle for him. Caring little for riddles and wisdom, the flintstones thought of taking the first fish from him and making fish soup. So, they gathered firewood and placed a big cooking pot above it, in which they placed water, carrots, as well as freshly cut onion. Then they started rubbing each other again so as to light the fire.

“Finally!”, the match exclaimed at some point as he took a grouper out of the water, just at the same time when the flintstones managed to finally start a fire. So excited did they get, however, that one of them overstepped and fell on the water. The match was so shocked that he gave it little thought; he gathered courage and dived in to save the flintstone.

As soon as he saw his reflection on the water, he noticed the fire that was burning on top of his head since he first read the riddle. “Give me water and I will die…”, he murmured for a last time, then gave a good dive to help the flintstone from drowning.

“Your flame is extinguished!”, the flintstones exclaimed as they saw him coming out of the water, and he instantly realized the solution to his riddle. It was “the fire”, that lives as you feed it, yet, dies in an instant if you happen to give it water.

So, the match went back home with a big smile on his face, as he had found what he was searching for all this time. As for the flintstones? After realizing that they had been trying to start a fire while being wet, they took their lesson, and also started paying more attention to riddles and puzzles so as to sharpen their mind....