A Dollar For The Flames

hi steemians! enjoy this cool short story, filled with details and suspense - 300 word short story initiated by @swissclive, enjoy!!

Word Count: 297

By god, it was so dark. The ink didn't burn well, and the fumes were curling around everyone's necks.

Three men sat around the flames. Their palms crackled with the grime of too many days without baths.

Without warning, the fire choked and flailed into a tiny, smoky spark.

"Ey, Donald, throw in some more!" hissed one.

"But I've almost run out of toilet paper, goddamit - "

The fire whined, glowing softer. With no more words, Donald rifled through his pockets and tossed sixteen dollars into the flame.

"There, happy, Georgie?"

Suddenly, the man on the left suddenly kicked an ember. Both Donald and Georgie watched as he nicked a dollar from the fire and slowly held it up, stretching it between dirt-soaked fingers. His eyes were somber, heavy from days of stale crackers and old, flat soda.

"I spent my whole life earning these."

He clambered to his knees. In the light, his eyes almost looked alive, clouded with memory.

"I had a big office up in those boulevards lined with cars and fat pines. I had a Mustang, with these gorgeous silver fenders. I had all the cash in the world."

"Whatever you were don't matter now, Mister Jamie." mumbled Donald.

"You should'a seen it coming." said Georgie. "Now look at where you are, in a crumbly cellar with the old boys."

Quietly, Jamie let go of the dollar. It fluttered into the fire. It took a second for him to realize that a drop from his cheek had followed.

"Yeah." mumbled Jamie. He leaned back, closing his eyes. "I should have invested in it from the start."

"What's it?" mumbled Georgie, whose hearing had faltered over the years.

Jamie closed his eyes. Another tear fell.

"Steemit," he whispered. "I should have invested in Steemit."