Lucky's Arc

Chapter 12 of 12

The woman carries Lucky in her coat pocket for three days. She uses it to light her stove when the pilot goes out. She uses it to light a candle during a power outage. She uses it at a bus stop to help a stranger with a cigarette who thanks her and walks away. Each time the flame catches steady and strong. On the fourth day she stands outside the glass shelter at a different bus stop, waiting. A cigarette hangs between her fingers, unlit. She thumbs Lucky's wheel once. It sparks but nothing catches. She tries again—same result. The wheel grinds and the spark flies but the flame won't come. She holds the lighter up to the gray afternoon light and sees the fuel window is almost clear. Nearly empty. She tries one more time and gets a weak flicker that dies before it reaches the cigarette. The lighter has given everything it had to strangers and stoves and candles and one last bonfire of someone else's past. Now when she needs it for herself, there's barely anything left. She drops Lucky back into her pocket and tucks the cigarette behind her ear. Her backpack sits at her feet, packed with everything she owns. The bus pulls up and the doors hiss open. She picks up the bag and climbs the steps without looking back. Inside she finds a seat near the window and sets the backpack on her lap. Lucky rests in her pocket—almost empty but still sparking. She decides that's enough. She doesn't need the flame for herself. She needs to know when to stop giving pieces away before there's nothing left to carry forward. The bus pulls onto the highway and she watches the shelter disappear behind her, the unlit cigarette still tucked behind her ear like a promise she's choosing not to keep.