The

one of my favorite Stephen King novels is Firestarter, which, without giving away too much, is the powerful

story of a little girl with a supernatural gift. King refers to it as Pyrocanesis, the

ability to control fire with the mind, and that's a frightening thought. But at the root

of the concept is the idea of control, fire serves the person directing it. But what

if that control were gone? What if the flames seemed to take on a mind of their own, and

all those tragic, terrible characteristics suddenly became unpredictable and possible? Fire

under control is a powerful, life-giving tool. On its own, though, it can destroy everything

in its path. That's exactly what happened in Central London way back in September

of 1666. Over the course of four days, fire engulfed building after building, ultimately

destroying the homes of over 70,000 people. Two centuries later, and a continent away,

another fire swept through the American city of Chicago. After three days of burning,

over 100,000 people were left homeless. These were both accidents, of course. The London

fire is thought to have been started in a bakery, while the Chicago fire has traditionally

been blamed on a cow kicking over a lantern in the O'Leary barn. But accidents happen,

especially when it comes to fire. Sometimes it's minor, while other times it leads to

horrible destruction. As a result, we fear fire. Yes, it's a tool we can use to our advantage,

but it's also a beast of limitless hunger and frightening power. So we hide the matches

from our children, build safety systems into our homes, and maintain teams of brave men

and women who stand ready to fight back when fire breaks out. But what would we do if

all that power fell into the hands of something out of our reach, invisible and unpredictable?

Something with clear malicious intent, zero regard for human life. Something, perhaps,

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