Custom Wood Burning Novels & Stories

he muttered looking into the wood and rearranging some logs pointlessly. “We're the masters at fire building, it'll light” Alissa blew on his embers for him, small flames licked at the dried birch fungus. He slowly pushed the now burning ball into the centre of the bonfire with a stick as Alissa lit another fire starter made up of birch fungus, dried sawdust and pine needles.

I smiled, “This is so awesome.” Daniel furrowed his brows, “Why?” I smiled, “White Cedar. A wood that is in high demand. It’s a beautiful color and matches just about any décor. I think I will ask her to just give it a couple coats of polyurethane for protection.” Jace, Tony, Angela and Lacey walked in and Lacey was bouncing as she approached me, “I’m so excited for you. Have you looked out front?” I shook my head, “Not yet.” She smiled, “It’s a long line.” I smiled, “Then let’s get ready to let them in.”

And she felt proud for having Jane as her friend. “If you will teach us, maybe we can learn too,” Haidee said to Jane. “Sure. It’s easy. First, fire-starting firewood should also be cut into thin strips, or thin twigs should be used. When building a fire, it is important to build the base level with thin twigs that are thinner than one inch. You should wrap these twigs in flammable material such as paper, or birch bark. This flammable material will help to catch the firewood easily. And…”

Eden snorted: "Sure! Brother, I know the price, especially the price of these trees. Genuine Dragon-Blood wood is never cheap, especially the kind that can last up to several hundred years like this. And it is still living in the Burning Zone..." The ombre yawned and sank into a dark green velvet chair that looked extremely comfortable: "First, I didn't rush to the Burning Zone to buy it myself. Second, this is a trophy, so I don't spend a dime on it aside from the money for sharpening the shape. Third, you don't need to pay extra, but I need some potion that - I know - the Noldorasga are experts at manipulating. Don't you agree?"

There was an enormous table to one side, like the one in the kitchen, and a number of assorted sofas and chairs dotted around the rest of the space. There were bookshelves, too, filled with board games and books. To one side there was a fireplace, made out of warm brick and stone, with a wooden mantelpiece on top. If you looked closely, there were a number of engravings in the wood, of endless woodlands and flowing rivers and, of course, wolves. The carvings told the story of the formation of our pack. As a child I’d loved tracing my chubby fingers across the wood, feeling the shapes beneath them. The early evening sun hit the wood, turning it a deep, golden orange.

Thankfully, they all seem to have remembered most of what we have went over up until now. "Since you have all gotten most of the plants down, today I would like to practice gathering wood and finding out where to get the best wood for fires. It might seem like an easy task but some species of trees do not burn as well and you should never try to burn a live tree. The only ones that should be gathered for fire wood are the down ones that are already dead. Does anybody know why?" I ask them. "Is it because you are a witch and do not like to harm living plants?" One of the teenagers asks me sarcastically.

Everyone bursts out laughing. Without hesitation, he strips the bark off some branches with his teeth, rubbing them in his hands until they become only fibers. Then take one of the thickest branches and, stretching his legs, hold it with his feet. With a thinner and harder branch, he began to rub it between his hands, without letting the tip move out the same place. After a few minutes, the wood started to smoke, and he covered the smoke with fibers from the bark of the trees, and blew on it, until the smoke turned to flame.

Close by, a cardboard box overflows with tinsel and paper decorations. Through the window, fog swirls and inside, winter penetrates. The air is damp with chill, so, for lack of anything else to do, I make up the fire. It's not difficult. A wicker basket contains paper, matches and kindling; the hearth is stacked with logs and there's already a good bed of ashes, albeit cold ashes. A couple of minutes' effort produces a bright flame and I stack thinnish stove-lengths then thicker logs over it, building it high. A good burn will heat the stonework and then the room.

"It’ll bow under heavy pressure. But if we drop the bed clearance by two millimeters and use thinner paper, we can pull ninety sheets before the wood splits. Ninety sheets is ninety rooms." ​Yusuf stood near the coal chute, his massive shoulders hunched against the draft. In his calloused hands, he held a small iron frying pan over a low charcoal brazier, stirring a thick, foul-smelling mixture of boiled linseed oil, soot, and crushed resin. His face was slick with sweat despite the freezing cold, illuminated by the deep orange glow of the embers.