Hot Take: Fire-Genii need our help
Just days after following a floating orb of light up my chimney and getting stuck, I sit here today with my rescuer - a fire-genii named Egan Ember, to give you an exclusive interview on what life is really like as keeper of the flame.
Egan sought refuge in my home after being asked to leave his community of circus performing fire eaters, after accidentally setting alight the costume box. Leaving the group of daredevils without their sequinned spandex, he was asked to leave the troupe lest he cause any further damage.
Instead of finding a new life for himself in a nearby town, Egan headed towards some mountains and out the other side, before coming across my secluded cabin. Thinking no one was in - due to my being stuck inside the chimney - he made himself a drink and rested.
After realising someone had entered my home, I shouted out for help, and Egan kindly manoeuvred me free.
Miss Tique
“Eagan, thank you for helping me out of the chimney, I was in a tricky spot there, I could have died had I stayed any longer!“
Egan Ember
“No worries ma’am, I was happy to be of help.“
Miss Tique
“So tell me, what’s it like being a fire-genii?“
Egan Ember
“Well, it’s difficult, and lonely. I’ve not been welcome in most places I’ve lived, especially when I was young, always being asked to leave after accidentally setting fire to something - or someone.“
Miss Tique
“How long have you been a nomad, an outcast?“
Egan Ember
“For as long as I can remember. The first fire incident occurring when I was 7 - I kept burning the loaves mother asked me to bake, she said we were too poor to be wasting so much food. Believing me to be burning them on purpose, she kicked me out. She didn’t realise I wasn’t leaving them in the oven too long, but that the short period of time in which I would carry the dough to the oven was enough for it to be set alight and burn to a crisp.“
Miss Tique
“And what of you powers now? You were able to help me out of the chimney without setting me alight.“
Egan Ember
“I’m more in control of the fire in my waking hours now, but I do sometimes still set alight a room at night - which is why I’ve preferred sleeping in caves, or rocky surfaces that aren’t so flamable.“
Miss Tique
“What’s something you wish people understood about fire-genii?“
Egan Ember
“We didn’t choose this life - and we have hopes and dreams just like any other person.“
Miss Tique
“What do you dream to do in this life?“
Egan Ember
“I want to fall in love, and find a new community of people to surround myself with.”
Miss Tique
“And the next?“
Egan Ember
“The next life? I hope to come back as a fish, to feel the cool embrace of water.“
Egan and I spoke for a while longer over cups of tea. We made him a space to sleep in a stone outhouse, and I spent the rest of the evening researching fire-genii. Here is what we know:
While some believe them to be spirits in the form of humans (genii being plural of genie, borrowed from the Latin ‘genius’, meaning guardian spirit), Egan was born to a human mother - he isn’t a spirit. he must have acquired the powers from someone or something aS A YOUNG CHILD.
Fire immunity relates to people that can hold hot coals or walk on fires without consequence, but they are different to fire-genii, as the latter can produce fire from their bodies.
Reports come from Liberta - Antigua (1929), Indianna - USA (1941), Vermont - USA (1947). There seems to be no one source.
Old beliefs talk of ‘seeds of fire’, that the ability resides in many people but that it takes being around the presence of certain magic can to bring it about.
After my research, I decided to embark on a trip with Egan to find people who may have more information on seeds of fire, and to hopefully find others like him. We will report back along our journey as we wander through snow storms, trek across rocky valleys, and climb perilous mountains.
Written by Miss Tique
Dubbed a “must-read columnist in the world of the weird and uncanny” by Strange Media. Winner of the prestigious 666 award for her documentary on ‘The Ghost Writer”, 2006.
This blog post is part of an ongoing series where I write and illustrate a fictitious story written in the style of a news article, inspired by the writing inside ‘Phenomena: A Book of Wonders’, a book by John Michell and Robert J.M. Rickard.
If you’d like to hire me to create some editorial illustrations or any other creative projects, please get in touch.