I gave myself the challenge of writing a story as erotic, as arousing, and as intensely stimulating as possible, without using any sexual or explicit language or situations. Just pure allegory. My challenge to you is to to let yourself get as immersed as possible, and see what happens ;)
The reader is cast as the only character. It’s written in the 2nd person without any gender or orientation input, and “you” is the only pronoun mentioned. As always, comments and critiques are appreciated.
Enjoy…
[Start]
For all the raging heat and power they contain, an intense, lasting fire is not as easy to craft as many assume. Showers of sparks on the forest floor fade into the cold, wet brush in vain. A match is struck and its heat is pressed against a mound of wood that’s been prepared for this moment. In a rush of excitement the heat transfers and causes the flame to grow. But as quickly as it came, the flame is gone. Leaving nothing but the quiet and the cold, that ever persistent cold.
But with skill intense fires can be cultivated with very little to work with. They can be started with little more than an ember. A single ember properly placed can sit and smolder on its own, waiting to be coaxed into more. Just when the ember might be ready to die, a gentle breath brings it to life. The ember is tiny. You can hardly see it; you could easily ignore it, but it is there burning and waiting. When you focus on it, that tiny red spot, you find that It’s glowing. That tiny spec of warmth so easily hidden and forgotten. Just a touch and you know its heat is present, waiting. That seed from which the furnace of life giving energy will grow.
Gently sown into a tiny bundle of tinder, a mound waiting to ignite. The ember transfers its heat. It doesn’t matter if the mound is damp. It doesn’t matter if it’s wet. In skillful hands, it will ignite. The mound of waiting tinder is going to burn. That tiny red spot embeds itself deep within the tinder. But without enough care the growing warmth will suffocate under its own heat. It will burn out quietly without a sound, without a flame, and without the combustion that has been so deeply anticipated in the cold forest night. Without attention the glowing will fade, too much will do the same. But the slightest, purposeful care will cause it to spread. A breath gracefully, skillfully guiding the heat. Then a pause to let it build. Patiently, confidently letting the tiny smoldering bit of tinder pulse, and burn, and grow. Then again, a gentle breath flows from skilled and attentive lips to coax slightly more heat out of it. A pause. And then again. Gently at first, growing harder and harder with each deep exhale. Almost like sighs of exasperation lingering in the frigid air. Each tiny bit of smoldering tinder glowing brighter and brighter as the heat spreads.
Finally, the tiniest flame appears. It flares up in the mound of tinder. Not enough to be called a fire, not enough to warm, just enough to be noticed. To give hope, that an inferno is building.
The flame slowly spreads and soon the whole mound is on fire, succumbing to the heat. The fire radiates from within. A warmth that can be felt. An intense flare that must not be extinguished. It must be guided until the whole tangled mass laying on the forest floor is consumed with this same scorching flame.
Quickly and frantically limbs are positioned. It’s easy to ignore the care and precision behind each motion, each placement. Limbs positioned in such a way as to slowly and steadily build the intensity. Experience and intuition guiding every deliberate motion. Quickly the fire starts to spread to the closest limbs. Can you feel it? Can you feel the heat as the fire spreads? The flames grasping and leaping as they reach for more. As the burning spreads across the limbs the heat penetrates to their core. As the tongues of fire dance and trace across the surface of each limb, heat and energy flow through their center reaching farther and farther from the source. Throbbing and aching the limbs let off a crackle as the heat advances. Strong breaths can still be heard over the sound of creaking wood as more and more is coaxed from the blaze.
Can you feel the tingling sensations? After a long journey in a lonely and cold forest, can you feel the heat wash over your body? This is the emergence of that long sought after feeling as warmth begins to fill your body, as the raging heat begins to overcome the bitter wind at your back. What started as an ember is now a blaze, burning and sustaining on its own. That tiny red spot, that small glowing coal, is now lost in a flood of primal energy erupting under the night sky.
The fire at last consumes the entire bundle. It’s a heap of tangled limbs, a mass of entwined shadows rolling and dancing on the forest floor, eclipsed by the overwhelming light and heat of the blaze. It beckons you to come to it. It calls you to come closer and closer, right up the edge. You stand and wait as close as you dare knowing that survival depends on its life giving energy. The inferno rages. Flames convulsing and writhing in the darkness, pushing and pulling with the wind. One flame leaping as another is thrown. It’s chaos and its magic. It’s mesmerizing and you can’t pull away. It feels so good, so warm. It wells up inside of you as your body savors the growing tide of blissful sensations.
As the inferno reaches its crescendo flames thrust up into the night, stretching, and arching, and grasping. The flames howl with the wind. Sparks are raptured up toward the stars and the forest seems to howl back as the sound echoes into the night. This culmination is magnificent and awe inspiring; it feels as if it will last a life time. Sights and sounds fade into obscurity as the long sought after relief washes over you. The raging fire displaces the last bit of frost from your body as the heat burns on your skin, penetrates to your bones, and courses through your veins. You become lost in the moment as the whole of your being is saturated by it. It’s loud and it’s wild and it’s fierce. It’s primal. It’s life. You can feel the heat on your cheeks; you can feel it on your whole body, the reprieve you’ve been craving. Your body shudders as the sensations overwhelm your nerves. Your extremities throb and tingle as the satisfying warmth flows over you… consumes you… revives you.
Set into motion long before with nothing more than an ember, a series of chemical reactions culminate in an unpredictable and chaotic conclusion. Captivating uncertainty and breathtaking potential. Like a tear in space and time, energy and light and life escaping from its core in every direction. Pouring into this cold existence from the other side. Can you feel its enchanting warmth overwhelming your whole body and penetrating deep into your core? It’s life giving and simultaneously all consuming. It’s unclear whether it springs forth from heaven or hell. But it’s essential for life and calls to each of us the same.
Source: reddit.com/r/eroticliterature/comments/sppkb2/embers_in_the_forest_full_story_a4a_erotic
Oh well done!