The story of surviving a cold and stormy night off of a candle

Jay ValenciaContributor - February 25, 2022

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It is a cold and stormy night when your car goes off the side of the road and into a tree. “Guess you should have spent the extra money on some snow tires” you tell yourself after cursing a little for your stupidity. You look down at your cell and there is no service, great! The forecast had mentioned it getting into the negatives tonight so your car just won’t do as a shelter until morning. As you sit there pondering the real pickle you are in, you recall a small shack you passed about 1/4 mile back the way you came. You bundle up with all the clothing you have and face the blistering storm as you hike through the darkness.

Upon coming to the house, can it even be called that? It looks to be barely held together and like it was deserted for some time. As a big gust of snowy wind pushes you back you are quite through with being out here and push your way into the building. With the remaining 14% of your cell phone battery, you illuminate the small area looking for any signs of life, food, or communications devices. There is a broken chair, a busted window, empty cupboards, some empty soup cans, a matchbook, and a single candle. Your luck hasn’t changed much, but at least it is warmer than out in your car. 

As your phone’s battery drains to 12% you decide that you will light the candle to be your source of light through the night, and maybe offer a little bit of heat. Time passes and you notice how thirsty you are, but heck if you are about to eat some snow and cool yourself down even further! You notice one of the empty soup cans and wonder if you could melt the snow over the candle’s flickering flame. Working fast you run outside, scoop a can of snow, and run back in before you cool down even further out there. Making a quick contraption you improvise a little stove top and place your can of snow on top. 

Just for giggles you time how long it takes with your trusty Casio watch and are quite surprised that the snow is completely melted in 6 minutes and 40 seconds. And just over 15 minutes the water has come to a roaring boil! Not too bad. Letting it cool down slightly you drink the warm beverage and your soul is warmed along with your stomach.

More time passes and your candle is still holding strong, but your stomach starts to grumble. At that moment you hear a rustle near the top corner of the shack. Using some of your precious battery again you flip on the light to illuminate a small pigeon’s nest. Oh that would be some mighty fine eatin! As you creep up on the little fluff, it flutters away! But it happened to kick over it’s nest onto the floor, might as well burn that for some warmth right? Upon closer inspection of the nest you notice some eggs inside, hope is not lost!

Taking another can, you craft a hot plate and crack an egg over top.

Surprisingly it starts to sizzle instantly and you know the beast in your stomach will be calmed shortly. It’s not much but you form the egg into a little omelette and it isn’t too bad. With your stomach full, you drift off to sleep.

The night turns to day and are awoken to the sound of traffic going past the shack, guess it’s time to get up and be rescued. You blow out the candle that made this horrible night just a little bit more bearable. It provided you with warmth, light, clean water, and a warm meal. Before you step out into the day you look back at the shack and the memory you had there. “When I get home, I am going to work on being more prepared.” you say out loud before the door shuts.

The end…

Hope the story was a more interesting way to share my little experiment of cooking over a candle. Have a nice weekend everyone.

4  

This brings up fond memories of car-camping after winter hikes, and roasting mini-marshmallows on a fork over a candle flame.  It’s amazing how much heat a single candle can put off.  I always keep some in my car for emergencies.

 

That was a very creative experiment and story, I enjoyed it. Hopefully things will never get so bad where I need to cook over a candle, but I know that I can now.

Have a good weekend too Jay.

 

1. The problem with this fairy tale is that any vehicle can be easily equipped with items necessary to experience a night like this in far more comfort.

 

That’s the moral of the story for our inexperienced protagonist, he wasn’t prepared but after going through this situation he makes a goal to be more prepared. 

I 100% agree that any vehicle can be equipped with things like a mylar blanket, mini stove, hand warmers, food, water, and more without taking much space at all or breaking $100. It’s very easy to do.