At this, Mrs Chonkhlang immediately ran to find Mr Phayni. She found him with the monks alongside all of the children who had been told, to their excitement, to leave the school and play outside. She led him and the monks to where she had last seen the girl and the Creature, but both were gone. Mr Phayni, blinded by the rage he felt as the Creature was succeeding in harming his family, told them all to go outside, lit a match, and let it fall.

​

Within minutes the little wooden building was in flames. All of the villagers watched, clutching their children and shielding them from all the danger that the Creature had brought with it into their lives. The monks chanted prayers, enticing the flames to find the malevolent Creature and purify its evil whilst eradicating its bodily form. Mr Phayni inhaled the death of the Creature and inwardly congratulated himself at having protected his family; Mrs Chonkhlang felt the fear that had been haunting her sink deeper somehow, Uncle Kyaw revelled in the thought that he had a few more waking days before he would finally be forced to confront the world of the immortal.

​

It was in the heat of the fire and the air, with the amber glow reflected in every spectator’s eyes, the smoke causing them to tear up, that one person disrupted the silence.

​

 
“Where’s Mr Phayni’s daughter?” 

*

And so it was that the events of those strange days burdened the village for years after; the story was passed on to child, grandchild, greatgrandchild. Everyone knew of the days the Creature brought fear into the community, and everyone knew that the moral was to always look out for evil ghosts or spirits come to bring harm.

​

The stories that generations knew as the truth was not the whole truth. The villagers had all made an unspoken agreement to end the story with the burning of the school, the disruption of Mr Phayni’s family, and the disappearance of the Creature. Indeed, these things did happen, and the Creature was never seen again after the Day of the Flames, but the Creature did not disappear immediately, nor did it perish in the tragic fire; it emerged from the glow, fear itself approaching the hysterical villagers. They were silent, powerless to do anything that could harm the Creature in a way greater than it had harmed them.

“What are you?” They asked.
“What are you?” The Creature spoke.