Here is a tale, written by a modern blogger (me), about a dragon family named The Vaxen's:
In a land closer than you would imagine, at a time not so long ago, lived a little girl dragon named Para Fin Vaxen. Para was one of 4 siblings. She had two older sisters, twins, named Candelle and Be'es; and a younger brother named Carnauba. Para Fin, Candelle, Be'es, and Carnauba Vaxen were ordinary dragons in every way. Well, ordinary in every way except for one: their parents were fire breathers.
Having fire breathing parents comes with it's perks: their fireplace never went cold; wet socks were dried in seconds; treacherous icy hills were cleared without effort; and they were even invited to light the Olympic Torch one year. In general, the good that came from having fire-breathing parents outweighed the stigma of being "different".
Unlike her sisters and brother, Para Fin longed to be a fire-breather. Her parents were keen to her wish, and tried as best they could to squelch it, for fear that she would get hurt. Para Fin practiced in the privacy of the backyard shed. She kept a notebook under a floorboard, beneath a wheelbarrow, journaling all of her experiments. For 3 years, Para Fin practiced and journaled. And on the days that she couldn't practice, she would take her journal to her room, reading through old experiments, and conjuring up new ones. She tried forcefully exhaling after drinking extremely hot tea, but that just gave her the hiccups. She tried fitting as many chili peppers as her mouth would hold, but this just caused tears to roll from her eyes, extinguishing even the potential of fire. She tried meditation, imagining herself to "be" the flame, which usually put her to sleep. She tried all of this and so much more, with no success.
The Vaxen's celebrated Hanukkah, and Para Fin was so hoping that she could surprise her family and light the Menorah with fire breathing. She had practiced for 3 years, and with 2 months to go before Hanukkah, she was determined to discover the art of fire breathing. She toted her experiment journal along wherever she went. She practiced in the shed every free moment she had. The two months passed, and still Para Fin could not fire-breathe. She was devastated having not attained her goal, but accepted her loss like only a true champion would.
Hanukkah that year looked to be the usual: mom and dad lighting the Menorah; feasts with family and friends; dreidel competitions between the cousins. On day 5 of the celebration, Candelle and Be'es woke early to help their mother in the kitchen. After sleeping in, Para Fin took a seat text to the kitchen window, sipping hot cider while she watched her younger brother attempt to chop wood with their father. Carnauba would swing the axe no more than 10 times, then drop it to tuck his hands into his armpits, trying to warm them. Father would motion for Carnauba to hold out his hands, then blow flame around his woolen mittens, warming and drying them, followed by the two of them doing a high-5. She watched no less than 10 cycles of this.
Lost in a daydream, Para Fin startled when Be'es shook her shoulder, impatiently asking, "Para! Do you want a latke, or not?!". "Oh, sure" she replied. She retrieved applesauce and sour cream from the fridge, and set out plates for everyone. No sooner had she set the table, when her father and brother came in from chopping wood, and they all sat down for breakfast.
The Menorah sat in the middle of the table, ready for 5 of the 9 candles to be lit. Mom blew one of her mini-flames - the kind she used for delicate tasks such as lighting candles, or the pilot light on the stove. Dad poured milk and coffee, and Carnauba tried to shove an entire latke in his mouth before the candles were lit, sending Candelle into a tizzy. Para Fin took a sip of milk ... and at this very moment, her destiny was forever changed. Realizing it was not milk, but some other "nasty" (her words, not mine) substance, Para Fin eschewed from her mouth whatever it was that she drank in a forceful spray of fine droplets. These droplets aimed directly towards the flame of the first candle that her mother had lit, and spontaneously combusted into a fire ball, which in turn lit the next 4 candles. Her family sat speechless at what just happened. Carnauba's mouth fell open and a latke fell out, Candelle and Be'es looked at each other in shock, Father looked at Mother, and Mother looked at Para Fin, who's face was ablaze with surprise and satisfaction.
It turns out, that Para Fin had mistakenly drank a glass of off-drippings from the breakfast meat, and the spray of oily droplets spontaneously combusted upon hitting the flame of the first candle.
Your fire safety lesson today is on Grease Fires. This is the time of year when people are cooking a lot more, and the incidents of kitchen fires rise. Grease fires are a common form of kitchen fire, and here's how you extinguish them:
1. TURN OFF the heat (burner), if safe to do so
2. COVER the pan with a tight-fitting lid, if safe to do so
If you can do these first 2 steps, the fire should go out. If the first 2 steps don't work, you can:
3. Use a FIRE EXTINGUISHER (which is basically baking soda under pressure, allowing you to smother the fire without getting too close like you'd have to do with a box of baking soda)
If none of the above works, CALL 911!
NEVER USE WATER to extinguish a grease fire. Why not? Because, grease floats on water. When you add water to a grease fire, the water goes directly underneath the grease. The water then immediately explodes into hot steam, forcing the grease into the air in small droplets, which spontaneously combust when they hit the oxygen in the air outside of the pan. The result: HUGE FIRE BALL, which will most likely burn you and/or anything in it's path. Here is a video that shows, up close, the devastating effect of putting water on a grease fire:
http://dsc.discovery.com/videos/time-warp-grease-fire-super-close-up.html
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