I used to love sitting next to the fireplace and reading when I was a kid.
The light from the flames provided enough light to read by too so I could sneak out and read and in the living room even after my mom called lights out.
Of course, mom caught me reading from time to time. She would just remind me not to stay up too late and then she would leave me to my books. I ended up sleeping in that old couch by the fireplace more times that I slept in my own bed I think. My whole life, I just knew that when I grew up I will get a home with a fireplace, just like the one I had grown up in. Unfortunately, I ended up going to college in the south. This meant renting an apartment and, of course, no fireplace. With the heat of the south, there aren’t a lot of places with fireplaces let alone apartments with fireplaces. My first Fall I started feeling really homesick and I found that reading just wasn’t the same without the glow or the smell of a fireplace. When my birthday came around, I wasn’t feeling very cheerful but when I opened up the boxes that my mom sent and I was surprised to see that she had sent a little electric fireplace. She also sent some fireplace scented candles. The electric fireplace works as a space heater too but it could also be used without any heat at all with just the flicker of the flames. It’s not super realistic, and not the real thing, but it’s about as close as I’m going to get in the south. Thank you Mom.