Ornament Countdown Day 17 or Battery Operated Only Please

One of my biggest fears is fire.  My fear of even the tiniest of  flames is the joke of most of my friends.  They know never to buy me a candle because I would never ever light it unless we had a black out and even then I would have to sit on top of it in case it burst into a wildfire.  Sick and Sad.

A while ago some friends invited me to go to a Japanese restaurant, I had never been.   As we walked in to this particular restaurant I noticed that every seat surrounded a Hibachi table. I had heard of them so I was a bit nervous but thought I just needed to go with the flow and not make a scene.  We sat down and after taking our order, the Hibachi chef created a huge explosion of fire in the middle of the grill inches from where I sat.  At first I tried to keep my panic at bay but as the flames grew bigger and the knifes started flying without realizing it I started moving further and further away from the table. Before long I was sitting on a chair halfway across the room and everyone in the room was looking at me. So much for not making a scene.  My friends could not stop laughing.  I must have looked really ridiculous, like something out of a Seinfeld episode but this time instead of Kramer it was me looking like an idiot.  At the time I saw nothing funny about it but now looking back I am sure I was amusing to watch, dodging fire and letting out a scream or two when the flames shot up to their highest.


So to represent my fear of fire I have a candle ornament.  Thankfully its not real.