[Jane Eyre] Spring Among the Thorns

"From the moment I fell from the attic, I was no longer that madwoman." [I] Bertha Mason set fire to the entire Thornfield Hall. As she stood on the attic windowsill with her arms spread wide, silently praying to meet her father in Heaven, a strong hand seized her shoulder. Bertha merely glanced back at him, intending to drag the devil down with her, using her withered hands to pull them both into a hell ablaze with karmic fire. But when she opened her eyes again, she saw those black eyes once more. [II] To be, or not to be? It was a question Bertha had pondered in both her former life and this one. "To be? Or not to be? We have no choice, my dear Bertha." Rochester's words came in a muffled whisper. He bent down, clasped her slender shoulders in both hands, and looked at the woman's face in the mirror, the corners of his lips curling upward. In a lover's whisper, Edward Rochester brought his lips close enough to barely brush her ear. "Your father and brother entrusted their finest rose to my care, Bertha. I will make you happy." Bertha stared blankly at the intimate pair of "lovers" in the mirror. After a long while, she turned her face and kissed his thin, downturned lips. [III] "Arson? I'm no arsonist, Mr. Rochester." "You are the fire." Bertha's vivid red lips parted and closed. "This fire could destroy you at any moment, my dear Edward. Aren't you afraid?" "Afraid?" Mr. Rochester burst out laughing, as if it were the funniest joke in the world. "If you set this fire, I will have strong liquor ready and wait for your flames to coil around me... Bertha." Reader's guide: 1. Couple: Bertha and Rochester. 2. A "second-chance romance": Bertha is reborn in the very fire she set herself. 3. Thornfield originally means "thorn field," which is where the title comes from. 4. No outline, just a freewheeling idea. Please be gentle Orz 5. A very short story, written for love. Follow the author so you don't lose your way [!] Theme: Live in the face of death