窄巷裡，她倚著牆，劃亮一根又一根火柴。從每個火苗中，她會幻想出各式各樣的人物及東西。今次，火光中有一個無所不談的朋友，聽她訴說生活的苦悶、工作的不滿、社會的不公......直至燒到差不多末端，她揮一揮手，朋友和火柴一起熄滅。

這是她在幼年時，聽完媽媽講《賣火柴的小女孩》後養成的嗜好。於火柴的火光中，她能特別投入於幻想；眼前的幻象，栩栩如生。人物會說話，有表情；食物有香味，有溫度。一盒火柴，就有數十個幻想，真是化算。

她買的是用松木製的長柄火柴，加上她戴著燒烤隔熱手套，火柴可以燃燒超過兩分鐘。她亦研究過，火柴垂直，火焰向上，燃燒速度是最慢的。

她亦習慣在旁邊準備一樽水，預防有火種落在垃圾或雜物。這是因為她初初在家中點火柴時，被爸爸發現，摑了她一巴掌，大罵她，令她又痛又慚愧，大哭起來。她也明白的確有危險，所以，以後點火柴時，都會準備一樽水在旁。

爸爸怒罵她的數天後，就離開家，沒有再回來。她起初以為是因為自己玩火柴，氣走了爸爸，就停止玩火柴，希望爸爸回來。

到了大約半年後，她才知到爸爸在外面有另一頭家，媽媽也很傷心，常常沉默不語。從此以後，當她煩惱時，她就劃亮火柴，沉浸於各種幻想中，驅走心中的不快和壓力。

今晚，盒中的火柴，還剩兩根。她熟手地劃亮其中一根，正計劃幻想自己背脊長有一對翅膀，在天空飛翔。怎料，面前出現一個瘦削男士，臉孔蠟黃，戴著紅禮帽，穿著淺啡色衫褲，就像一根火柴。

他脫下帽子，微微鞠躬，彬彬有禮地自我介紹：「小姐，我是妖火師伏摩爾，是火神赫菲斯托斯的後代。」他揮一揮手，一簇火焰冒起，燃燒他整隻手掌。

她大吃一驚，立即拿起身旁的水樽，將全部水倒在他手上，但火勢只是減弱少許，而她的手指，雖然距離他手掌上的火一段距離，且有手套保護，但竟然被灼傷。那種灼熱，和平常的火不同，但有什麼不同，她又說不出。

伏摩爾再揮一揮手，火焰消失，手掌絲毫無損。他露出一個詭異的笑容，道：「我是妖火師，在一分鐘內，可以抵禦妖火的焚燒。但過了時限，也會受傷，畢竟，火是眾多自然力量中，破壞力最猛烈。在中國，火神祝融就打敗了水神共工，導致共工大怒，撞倒不周山。」

她目瞪口呆，想不到會遇上自稱妖火師的怪人，更向她講中國神話。不過，他手掌上的火也真怪異，突然出現，又突然消失，不像是魔術。

伏摩爾續道：「恭喜你中獎了，因為每當火柴在第一億次被劃亮時，我就會出現，送上神秘力量。然後，由零再開始計算劃亮火柴次數。」

她劃亮火柴時，常常幻想有超級英雄出來幫她。例如，黃金俠將身體部份的黃金送給她，讓她可以幫媽媽支付醫院的手術費。伏摩爾自稱，是火神後代，那他的超能力是否和火有關呢？

妖火師像是看透了她的心思，回答：「對，和火有關，是使用妖火一次的能力。當你劃亮下一根火柴，只要想着一個人的模樣，然後唸出他姓名三次，一股妖火就會在他身上燃燒，無法撲熄，直至燒成灰燼。」

她覺得有一種荒謬感，問：「和日本漫畫《死亡筆記》差不多？」（註1）

妖火師答：「 你實在太聰明了，我就是從這本漫畫得到靈感，研發出這種神秘力量。 我相信簡單就是美，所以，沒有『死神筆記』那麽多規則。」

她再問：「所有人體自燃現象，都是因為妖火？」

妖火師道：「我只是送獎品，不會答沒相關的問題。」

她道：「這獎品對我沒有用，我沒想過殺人。」

妖火師道：「活在千絲萬縷的社會，每個人總會憎恨過其他人，甚至有一些對象，想他們死去。不過，殺害對方，而又令大家不思疑自己，不留下証據，是最困難的事，亦令大家不會想下去。而妖火力量，卻是最佳方法。以往中獎的人，全都使用過。」

她腦海中，隨即出現了數個臉孔，之前也掠過他們如果突然死去就太好了的念頭。

妖火師續道：「你剛才幫我救火，令我很感動，讓我給你一個意見。在以往中獎者當中，有一個最聰明的人。他在得知擁有妖火能力後，就自言自語，說挑選燒死的對象，不應是自己最憎恨的人，而是一個死後，能令自己痛苦減到最低的人。」

說完，窄巷中央冒出一團烈火，妖火師轉身，走進火中，然後，烈火和他同時消失。

她望着手中的火柴，想起不同人選，包括欠她十數萬元而不還錢的「好朋友」、時常性騷擾她的大客戶、和她正在競爭一個升職位置的同事、中學時常常說她壞話的同學、曾搶去她男朋友的大學同學、遊說她買虧本股票的經紀、夜間時常打麻雀而令她睡不好的鄰居、中學時誤會她有份打破玻璃窗的老師、欺騙過她的前男友、丟棄家庭多年的爸爸.....自己最憎恨誰呢？有什麼人死後，可以令自己

的痛苦減到最少呢？

如果你是他，你會選擇：

 -（A）燒死爸爸

 -（B）燒死最憎恨的人

 -（C）燒死能令自己的痛苦減到最少的人

- （D）不燒死任何人

In a narrow alley, she leaned against the wall and lit one match after another. From each tiny flame, she could conjure all sorts of people and things. This time, the fire revealed a friend she could talk to about anything — someone who listened to her complain about life's boredom, her frustrations at work, the injustices of society...... until the match burned down to almost nothing.

Then she waved her hand, and both the friend and the flame vanished together. This had been her habit ever since childhood, after her mother told her the story of The Little Match Girl. In the light of a burning match, she could lose herself completely in her imagination. The visions before her felt utterly real: the people spoke and had expressions; the food had aroma and warmth. One box of matches gave her dozens of fantasies — such a bargain.

She bought long-stemmed matches made of pine wood. Wearing heat-resistant BBQ gloves, she could make a match burn for over two minutes. She had also figured out that holding the match vertically with the flame rising upward, which was the slowest way to burn.

She also kept a bottle of water nearby, just in case any stray sparks landed on rubbish or other flammable things. That habit started because when she initially lit matches at home, her father caught her. He slapped her across the face and yelled at her. The sting and shame made her burst into tears. She understood the danger, so after that, she always kept a bottle of water beside her.

A few days after scolding her, her father left home and never came back. At first, she thought she had driven him away by playing with matches. So she stopped lighting them, hoping he would return.

Only about six months later did she learn that her father had another family elsewhere. Her mother was heartbroken and often fell silent. From then on, whenever she felt troubled, she would light a match and sink into her fantasies, chasing away her unhappiness and stress.

Tonight, only two matches remained in the box. She skillfully lit one and was about to imagine herself with wings sprouting from her back, flying through the sky — when suddenly, a thin, sickly-faced man appeared before her. He wore a red top hat and light brown clothes. He looked like a human-sized match.

He removed his hat, gave a slight bow, and introduced himself politely: "Miss, I am the demon firr master Fumoer, descendant of the fire god Hephaestus." He waved his hand. A cluster of flames erupted and engulfed his entire palm.

She was so startled that she immediately grabbed her water bottle and dumped all of it onto his hand. The flames only dimmed slightly. And her fingers — though a good distance from the fire on his palm and protected by her gloves — were actually burned. The heat felt different from ordinary fire, though she couldn't explain how.

Fumoer waved his hand again. The flames vanished. His palm was completely unharmed. He gave an eerie smile and said, "I am a demon fire master. For one minute, I can withstand the burning of demon fire. But past that time, even I get hurt. After all, fire is the most destructive of all natural forces. In China, the fire god Zhu Rong defeated the water god Gong Gong, which made Gong Gong so angry that he smashed Mount Buzhou."

She was speechless. She hadn't expected to meet a strange man who called himself a demon fire master — and who then proceeded to lecture her about Chinese mythology. Still, the fire on his palm had been truly strange: appearing suddenly, vanishing suddenly. It didn't seem like a magic trick.

Fumoer continued: "Congratulations. You have won the prize. Whenever the one‑hundred‑millionth match is struck, I appear and bestow a supernatural power. Then the count resets to zero."

Whenever she lit a match, she often fantasized about a superhero coming to help her. For example, "Goldman" giving her some of his golden body so she could pay for her mother's surgery. Now this Fumoer claimed to be a descendant of the fire god. Did that mean his superpower had something to do with fire?

The demon fire master seemed to read her mind. "Yes," he answered. "It has to do with fire. The power is the ability to use demon fire once. When you strike your next match, just picture a person's face and chant their name three times. Then a demon fire will ignite on that person's body. It cannot be extinguished — not until they burn to ash."

A wave of absurdity washed over her. "Isn't that just like the Japanese manga Death Note?" (Note 1)

The demon fire master replied, "You are very clever. I got the idea from that manga and developed this supernatural power. I believe simplicity is beauty, so there are not as many rules as the Death Note."

She asked again, "All cases of spontaneous human combustion — are they caused by demon fire?"

The Flame Witch said, "I only deliver the prize. I don't answer unrelated questions."

She said, "This prize is useless to me. I've never wanted to kill anyone."

The demon fire master said, "In this tangled web of society, everyone has hated someone at some point. There have even been people you wished were dead. But the hardest part is killing them without raising suspicion or leaving evidence. That stops most people from going further. Demon fire is the perfect solution. Every previous winner used their power."

Instantly, several faces popped into her mind — people she had briefly thought, It would be so nice if they suddenly dropped dead.

The demon fire mster continued, "You helped put out my fire just now. That moved me. So let me give you some advice. Among all the previous winners, the smartest one said this to himself after discovering he had the demon fire power: 'The person I choose to burn should not be the one I hate most. It should be the one whose death would reduce my own suffering the most.'"

With that, a pillar of flames erupted in the middle of the narrow alley. The fire demon master turned and walked into the fire. Then both he and the flames disappeared.

She stared at the match in her hand and thought of the different candidates: the "good friend" who owed her over a hundred thousand and refused to pay back; the big client who constantly sexually harassed her; the colleague competing with her for a promotion; the classmate from middle school who always spread nasty rumors about her; the college classmate who stole her boyfriend; the stockbroker who convinced her to buy worthless shares; the neighbor whose late‑night mahjong games kept her from sleeping; the middle school teacher who wrongly accused her of breaking a window; the ex‑boyfriend who cheated on her; the father who abandoned the family for years… Who did she hate the most? And whose death would reduce her own suffering the most?

If you were him, what would you choose?

 - Choice (A): Burn her father

 - Choice (B): Burn the person she hated most

 - Choice (C): Burn the person whose death would reduce her own suffering the most

 - Choice (D): Not burn any person

選擇（A）：燒死爸爸

想起很多人，最後一個浮上來的，是爸爸。那個讓媽媽和她吃了很多苦頭的男人。

她年幼時，媽媽總是辛勤工作至深夜，賺得的錢，僅僅夠糊口。而同學的目光，不論是可憐還是奚落，都令她寧願孤獨一人。

對爸爸的恨意，猛然再湧上她心頭。

她劃亮火柴，張開口，說了姓氏的一個字，就說不下去。

她記不起爸爸的名字。

她怔怔地望著火光，心中那股恨意，漸漸化為一陣迷惘。她的恨意，突然強烈到劃亮火柴去殺他，但她連他的名字都記不起。

那她恨的究竟是什麼？是那個人？是被拋棄時的痛苦回憶？是被拋棄後的心靈空虛？為何有一段時間仿似忘記了他？

憎恨是什麼？記憶是什麼？這些東西，她有得選擇嗎？

火柴熄滅了。

她從自己的火柴盒中，取出最後一根，劃亮。然後，她幻想一個不再被過往憎恨綑綁的自己，究竟會是什麼模樣。

[完]

Choice (A): Burn her father

Many people came to mind. The last one to surface was her father. The man who had made her mother and her suffer so much.

When she was young, her mother worked tirelessly late into the night, earning just enough to keep them alive. And the looks from her classmates — whether pity or scorn — made her prefer being alone.

The hatred for her father surged up again, fierce and sudden.

She struck the match. She opened her mouth, said the first syllable of his surname — and then couldn't go on.

She couldn't remember her father's name.

She stared blankly at the flame. The hatred inside her slowly turned into confusion. Her hatred had been strong enough to make her light a match to kill him — yet she couldn't even recall his name.

So what did she really hate? The person? The painful memory of being abandoned? The emptiness after being left behind? Why had she seemed to forget him for a while?

What is hatred? What is memory? Did she have any choice in these things?

The match went out.

She took the last match from her box and struck it. Then she imagined what she would look like — a self no longer shackled by past hatred.

[End]

選擇（B）：燒死最憎恨的人

愛的反面，就是恨。

當她想到前男友，就像爸爸，背叛兩人之間的海誓山盟。一切情話，都是甜言蜜語。那股恨意，原來極之熾熱，她很自然就劃亮火柴。

她說出他的名字。第一次，聲音穩穩的。第二次，嘴唇忽然發抖，想起那個寒流驟至的夜晚，他毫不猶豫地把身上唯一的外套脫下，披在她肩上。又想起那場深夜的暴雨，他跑了四條街，渾身濕透地衝進便利店買了一把傘，又跑回來，送她回家。兩個人，一把傘，心裡暖暖的。

她忽然痛哭起來。火柴在指間顫抖，直至燒到盡頭。

她不知道，此刻的不忍心，究竟是否憎恨之中，仍藏著一點點愛。

[完]

Choice (B): Burn the person she hated most

The opposite of love is hate.

When she thought of her ex‑boyfriend — just like her father, he had betrayed their vows. Every sweet word had been empty flattery. That hatred burned so fiercely that she naturally struck the match.

She spoke his name. The first time, her voice was steady. The second time, her lips began to tremble. She remembered that night when a cold snap hit without warning. Without hesitation, he had taken off his only jacket and draped it over her shoulders. She remembered another time, late at night in a torrential rain. He dashed through four streets, burst soaking wet into a convenience store to buy an umbrella, then ran back to walk her home. Two people, one umbrella — warmth in their hearts.

Suddenly, she burst into tears. The match trembled between her fingers until it burned to the very end.

She didn't know if this hesitation meant that inside her hatred, a tiny spark of love still remained.

[End]

選擇（C）：燒死能令自己的痛苦減到最少的人

她就每一個人選，都想象若燒死後，是否可以令自己的痛苦減少，人生會更快樂。例如，她不會再被為了業績而忍受客戶的性騷擾、升職機會增加、向欺侮她的人報仇而感到快意、甚或嘗試乘虛而入去安慰一個她有點動心的男性朋友，只要他的女朋友......

太多需要燒死的人，只能燒死一個，根本於事無補......她想通了，能令自己的痛苦減到最少，只得一個選擇。

她劃亮火柴，唸了自己姓名三次。

「蓬！」

[完]

Choice (C): Burn the person whose death would reduce her own suffering the most

She thought about each candidate. Would burning them really reduce her suffering? Would her life become happier? She imagined: no more enduring a client's sexual harassment just to meet her sales target; a better chance at promotion; the satisfaction of revenge against those who bullied her; perhaps even the chance to comfort a male friend she secretly had feelings for — if only his girlfriend were out of the way......

There were too many people she wanted to burn. She could only burn one. That wouldn't change anything. Then she figured it out. There was only one choice that would truly reduce her suffering the most.

She struck the match. She chanted her own name three times.

FWOOSH.

[End]

選擇（D）：燒死能令自己的痛苦減到最少的人

燒死最憎恨的人，只是出了一口氣。倒不如燒死罪大惡極，但法律未能制裁的壞人，更感快意，就像擁有「死亡筆記」的夜神月。

但實在有太多人選，揀選誰呢？ 最後，她決定燒死一個散播仇恨的魔鬼，就劃亮火柴，唸道：

「伏摩爾，伏摩爾，伏摩爾。」

[完]

Choice (D): Not burn any person

Burning the person she hated most would just be letting off steam. Maybe it would feel even better to burn some evil criminal who had escaped the law — like Light Yagami with the Death Note.

But there were so many candidates. Who to choose? Finally, she decided to burn the demon who spread hatred. She struck the match and chanted:

"Fumoer, Fumoer, Fumoer."

[End]

註1：《死亡筆記》是日本著名漫畫，由大場鶇原作、小畑健作畫。故事講述高中生夜神月撿到「死亡筆記」，只要寫上名字並知道長相，就能殺死對方。他以「奇拿」身分，殺死他認為是邪惡及有罪的人，為世界建立新秩序。天才偵探L追查奇拿真實身份，兩人展開鬥智的心理戰。

Note 1: "Death Note" is a famous Japanese manga series written by Tsugumi Ohba and illustrated by Takeshi Obata. The story follows high school student Light Yagami, who finds a "Death Note" — a notebook in which he can kill anyone by writing their name while picturing their face. As "Kira," Light kills those he deems evil or guilty, aiming to create a new world order. The genius detective L hunts for Kira's true identity, leading to an intense battle of wits..