WEBVTT 1 00:00:04.160 --> 00:00:15.240 Us was to be hers. 2 00:00:16.000 --> 00:00:19.640 The candle maker. Wren's shop sat on a corner where 3 00:00:19.679 --> 00:00:24.440 two quiet streets met, and in the window there were 4 00:00:24.480 --> 00:00:30.760 always candles burning small flames behind glass, casting warm light 5 00:00:30.920 --> 00:00:35.159 onto the sidewalk. The sign above the door read simply 6 00:00:35.759 --> 00:00:39.960 Wren's Candles, And if you pushed the door open, a 7 00:00:40.000 --> 00:00:43.079 bell would ring, and you would step into a room 8 00:00:43.200 --> 00:00:48.159 that smelled of beeswax and lavender and something deeper, something 9 00:00:48.200 --> 00:00:52.520 that felt like coming home. Wren made candles by hand, 10 00:00:53.079 --> 00:00:55.880 one at a time, in the back room of the shop. 11 00:00:57.000 --> 00:01:00.280 She had been making them for fifteen years, and in 12 00:01:00.320 --> 00:01:04.959 that time she had made thousands, each one different, each 13 00:01:05.040 --> 00:01:09.040 one for a specific person or a specific need. She 14 00:01:09.159 --> 00:01:13.079 did not believe in mass production. She believed that a 15 00:01:13.120 --> 00:01:16.560 candle should be made with intention, that the wax should 16 00:01:16.599 --> 00:01:21.480 know who it was for. Her process was simple. She 17 00:01:21.640 --> 00:01:25.719 melted the wax in a double boiler a heavy copper 18 00:01:25.799 --> 00:01:29.359 pot she had found at a flea market. The wax 19 00:01:29.480 --> 00:01:33.560 was bees wax, sourced from a local beekeeper who brought 20 00:01:33.640 --> 00:01:36.799 it in golden blocks that smelled of honey in summer. 21 00:01:38.359 --> 00:01:41.120 She blended it with a little cocoanut oil for a 22 00:01:41.200 --> 00:01:46.400 smooth burn, and added essential oils for scent. The oils 23 00:01:46.439 --> 00:01:50.480 were her secret, or not so much a secret as 24 00:01:50.519 --> 00:01:54.439 a knowledge she had built over years of testing, each 25 00:01:54.560 --> 00:01:58.519 blend tuned to a particular purpose. To day, she was 26 00:01:58.599 --> 00:02:01.719 making a candle for a while woman named Helen, who 27 00:02:01.799 --> 00:02:04.799 had come into the shop last week and stood for 28 00:02:04.840 --> 00:02:11.759 a long time without saying anything. Helen was older, perhaps seventy, 29 00:02:12.639 --> 00:02:16.360 with silver hair and hands that twisted a ring on 30 00:02:16.439 --> 00:02:19.960 her finger. She had looked at the candles in the window, 31 00:02:20.520 --> 00:02:24.479 and then at the shelves, and then at Wren, and 32 00:02:24.560 --> 00:02:29.919 finally she had said, I cannot sleep. Wren had nodded. 33 00:02:30.680 --> 00:02:34.840 She heard this often. Insomnia was one of the reasons 34 00:02:34.879 --> 00:02:39.039 people came to her, though not the only one. Some 35 00:02:39.319 --> 00:02:44.639 came for comfort, some came for focus. Some came because 36 00:02:44.680 --> 00:02:48.879 they were grieving and needed something to hold, something warm 37 00:02:49.159 --> 00:02:54.919 and solid and alive with flame for sleep. Wren had said, 38 00:02:55.680 --> 00:03:00.719 I would use lavender and cammel, a little cedar wood grounding. 39 00:03:01.560 --> 00:03:05.759 The wax will be a soft white like moonlight. I 40 00:03:05.800 --> 00:03:08.919 will make it for you. Come back in three days. 41 00:03:09.840 --> 00:03:13.560 Helen had nodded and left, and Wren had gone to work. 42 00:03:14.520 --> 00:03:18.800 She melted the wax, now watching it turn from solid 43 00:03:19.000 --> 00:03:25.599 to liquid, from opaque to clear. The transformation was always satisfying, 44 00:03:26.319 --> 00:03:30.520 the way a thing could change state entirely and still 45 00:03:30.560 --> 00:03:35.879 be itself. She added the cocoanut oil and stirred slowly, 46 00:03:36.879 --> 00:03:41.719 the wooden spoon moving in lazy circles. The scent began 47 00:03:41.800 --> 00:03:47.319 to rise, warm and sweet. She measured the lavender essential 48 00:03:47.360 --> 00:03:52.159 oil with a dropper, counting each drop. Too much and 49 00:03:52.280 --> 00:03:56.039 the candle would be cloying. Too little, and it would 50 00:03:56.080 --> 00:03:59.439 not do its work. She had learned this by trial, 51 00:04:00.319 --> 00:04:04.240 by burning hundreds of candles and noting which ones helped 52 00:04:04.599 --> 00:04:08.280 and which ones did not. The right amount was precise, 53 00:04:08.719 --> 00:04:11.520 and she trusted her hands to know it. The came 54 00:04:11.560 --> 00:04:15.400 emal came next, a gentler scent, and then the cedar 55 00:04:15.400 --> 00:04:19.560 would just a few drops enough to anchor the blend. 56 00:04:20.199 --> 00:04:24.079 She stirred again and let the oils mingle, the three 57 00:04:24.079 --> 00:04:29.040 cents finding each other and settling into something new, something 58 00:04:29.079 --> 00:04:32.959 that was not lavender or came emial or cedar wood, 59 00:04:33.399 --> 00:04:37.959 but all of them together, a conversation between plants. She 60 00:04:38.040 --> 00:04:41.480 had prepared the wick earlier, a cotton wick dipped in 61 00:04:41.560 --> 00:04:45.360 bees wax, centered in a glass jar. The jar was 62 00:04:45.399 --> 00:04:50.079 simple clear glass, the kind you could see through. Wren 63 00:04:50.279 --> 00:04:53.279 liked clear glass because she liked to watch the candle 64 00:04:53.319 --> 00:04:57.360 burn down to see the wax pool and the flame dance. 65 00:04:58.079 --> 00:05:02.120 The jar was clean and warm from sitting in the sun, 66 00:05:02.480 --> 00:05:04.959 and she set it on the counter and poured the 67 00:05:05.000 --> 00:05:09.399 wax in slowly, a thin stream that did not splash 68 00:05:09.759 --> 00:05:14.120 or bubble. The wax filled the jar and began to cool, 69 00:05:14.759 --> 00:05:18.399 and Ran watched it, making sure the wick stayed centered. 70 00:05:19.040 --> 00:05:24.399 As it cooled, the surface became mat then opaque, then solid. 71 00:05:25.199 --> 00:05:28.879 The color was a soft white with the faintest tint 72 00:05:28.920 --> 00:05:33.399 of gold, the natural color of bees wax. She did 73 00:05:33.439 --> 00:05:36.920 not add dye. She believed that candles should lick like 74 00:05:37.000 --> 00:05:41.360 what they were, natural and warm while the candle pulled. 75 00:05:41.759 --> 00:05:45.000 She worked on others. There was a candle for a 76 00:05:45.040 --> 00:05:50.120 man named Thomas who could not focus at work. For him, 77 00:05:50.240 --> 00:05:54.439 she used rosemary and peppermint, sharp and bright in a 78 00:05:54.480 --> 00:05:58.800 deep green wax. There was a candle for a child 79 00:05:58.879 --> 00:06:03.319 named Sophie, who was afraid of the dark. For Sophie, 80 00:06:03.360 --> 00:06:06.319 she used vanilla and a touch of orange, warm and 81 00:06:06.399 --> 00:06:10.519 sweet in a pale yellow wax. She made the jar 82 00:06:10.680 --> 00:06:15.800 smaller for Sophie, a child's size, easy to hold. Each 83 00:06:15.879 --> 00:06:21.759 candle took time, the pouring, the cooling, the testing. Wren 84 00:06:22.399 --> 00:06:26.600 burned every candle she made before she sold it, to 85 00:06:26.639 --> 00:06:29.920 make sure it burned evenly, that the scent was right, 86 00:06:30.480 --> 00:06:34.000 that the wick did not smoke. If a candle did 87 00:06:34.000 --> 00:06:38.480 not pass, she melted it down and started again. She 88 00:06:38.600 --> 00:06:42.360 had high standards, not out of pride, but out of respect. 89 00:06:43.079 --> 00:06:47.360 These candles were going into people's homes, into their bedrooms, 90 00:06:47.839 --> 00:06:51.639 into their most private hours. They had to be right. 91 00:06:52.560 --> 00:06:57.439 The afternoon passed, the sun moved across the sky and 92 00:06:57.560 --> 00:07:00.839 came through the back window and lit the work bench 93 00:07:00.920 --> 00:07:06.399 in gold. Wren made six candles, each one labeled with 94 00:07:06.439 --> 00:07:09.959 a name and a purpose. She lined them up on 95 00:07:10.040 --> 00:07:15.279 a shelf to cure. Candles needed time after pouring, a 96 00:07:15.399 --> 00:07:17.920 day or two for the wax to settle and the 97 00:07:18.000 --> 00:07:22.000 scent to bind. She would not sell them until they 98 00:07:22.000 --> 00:07:26.639 were ready. Her cat, a gray tabby named Ash, came 99 00:07:26.680 --> 00:07:29.000 in from the garden and sat on the counter and 100 00:07:29.120 --> 00:07:33.360 watched her work. Ash was a quiet cat, a shop 101 00:07:33.439 --> 00:07:38.079 cat who greeted customers with a slow blink and occasionally 102 00:07:38.120 --> 00:07:42.240 allowed himself to be petted. He had been with Wren 103 00:07:42.319 --> 00:07:45.480 for ten years, since he was a kitten found in 104 00:07:45.519 --> 00:07:50.160 a cardboard box behind the bakery next door. You are 105 00:07:50.199 --> 00:07:54.160 a good helper, Wren said to Ash, and Ash yawned 106 00:07:54.279 --> 00:08:00.800 and closed his eyes. The bell chimed. A man came in, young, 107 00:08:01.079 --> 00:08:04.399 perhaps thirty, with a harried look and a phone in 108 00:08:04.480 --> 00:08:07.759 his hand. He was looking at his phone and not 109 00:08:08.000 --> 00:08:12.600 at the shop. I need a gift, he said, something 110 00:08:12.639 --> 00:08:18.000 for my mother. Her birthday is tomorrow. Wren looked at him. 111 00:08:18.680 --> 00:08:23.240 What does she like, he thought, gardens? He said, she 112 00:08:23.480 --> 00:08:26.839 likes her garden. Wren went to the shelf and found 113 00:08:26.879 --> 00:08:30.639 a candle she had made last week, a blend of rose, 114 00:08:30.720 --> 00:08:34.200 geranium and basil and a hint of earth in a 115 00:08:34.279 --> 00:08:38.759 deep terra cotta wax. It smelled like a garden in 116 00:08:38.799 --> 00:08:41.960 the morning, when the dew was still on the leaves 117 00:08:42.000 --> 00:08:45.279 and the soil was warm. She had made it for 118 00:08:45.399 --> 00:08:49.039 no one in particular, just because the scent had come 119 00:08:49.080 --> 00:08:52.519 to her and she wanted to make it. This one, 120 00:08:52.879 --> 00:08:58.279 she said, it is called morning garden. The man smelled 121 00:08:58.320 --> 00:09:03.639 it and his face chained softened, and Wren knew it 122 00:09:03.720 --> 00:09:08.600 was right. He paid and left, and the bell chimed. 123 00:09:08.919 --> 00:09:13.120 And the shop was quiet again. In the evening, after 124 00:09:13.240 --> 00:09:17.039 she closed the shop, Wren sat in the small courtyard 125 00:09:17.120 --> 00:09:21.320 behind the building. The courtyard had a stone wall and 126 00:09:21.399 --> 00:09:24.559 a fig tree and a bench, and it was where 127 00:09:24.600 --> 00:09:28.120 she went to be still. She lit one of her 128 00:09:28.159 --> 00:09:33.600 own candles, a blend of sandalwood and frankincense, and set 129 00:09:33.600 --> 00:09:37.480 it on the bench beside her. The flame was small 130 00:09:37.600 --> 00:09:41.879 and steady, and she watched it. She thought about the 131 00:09:41.919 --> 00:09:45.759 people who would burn her candles. To night, Helen perhaps 132 00:09:46.480 --> 00:09:49.440 lying in bed with the lavender and cameomel flame on 133 00:09:49.519 --> 00:09:53.559 her night stand, letting the scent pull her down into sleep. 134 00:09:54.879 --> 00:10:00.759 Thomas studying at his desk, the rosemary and peppermint helping focus. 135 00:10:02.039 --> 00:10:06.159 Sophie in her room, the vanilla candle warm on her shelf, 136 00:10:06.679 --> 00:10:10.799 pushing back the dark. Each candle was a small act 137 00:10:10.840 --> 00:10:15.039 of care. Each one was a gift, even when it 138 00:10:15.120 --> 00:10:19.200 was bought and paid for. Wren made them with her hands, 139 00:10:19.879 --> 00:10:24.039 and her hands carried her attention, and her attention was 140 00:10:24.080 --> 00:10:27.399 a kind of love. She did not say this to 141 00:10:27.440 --> 00:10:32.200 her customers. She did not need to. They felt it 142 00:10:32.240 --> 00:10:35.320 when they lit the wick, and the scent rose, and 143 00:10:35.360 --> 00:10:39.960 the flame steadied, and the room changed. The courtyard was quiet. 144 00:10:40.600 --> 00:10:43.840 The fig tree had small green fruit that would ripen 145 00:10:43.879 --> 00:10:48.080 in August. The stone wall was warm from the day's sun. 146 00:10:49.120 --> 00:10:53.000 The candle burned beside her, and Wren sat and watched 147 00:10:53.039 --> 00:10:57.159 it and let the day settle, the way wax settles 148 00:10:57.200 --> 00:11:01.159 after it is poured, smooth and still. She thought about 149 00:11:01.200 --> 00:11:06.639 the wax itself, how it began as something. The bees made, 150 00:11:07.320 --> 00:11:12.120 tiny flakes of comb, built cell by cell in the hive. 151 00:11:13.600 --> 00:11:17.600 She thought about the bees, how they worked in darkness, 152 00:11:18.519 --> 00:11:26.000 guided by scent and vibration, building their perfect geometry. The 153 00:11:26.039 --> 00:11:30.080 wax was a by product of their labor, and she 154 00:11:30.240 --> 00:11:35.120 turned it into light. It felt like a fair exchange, 155 00:11:36.000 --> 00:11:41.759 a continuation of the work. The candle burned lower, and 156 00:11:41.840 --> 00:11:46.639 the wax pooled round the wick, and the flame grew 157 00:11:46.799 --> 00:11:51.600 a little taller. Wren blew it out and watched the 158 00:11:51.679 --> 00:11:56.639 smoke rise, a thin white thread in the evening air. 159 00:11:57.720 --> 00:12:01.279 She breathed in the last of the set and stood 160 00:12:01.879 --> 00:12:07.600 and stretched and went inside. She made herself a simple dinner, 161 00:12:08.440 --> 00:12:13.240 bread and cheese and a few figs from last year's harvest, 162 00:12:13.840 --> 00:12:19.200 preserved in syrup. She ate at the kitchen table, looking 163 00:12:19.240 --> 00:12:23.320 out at the courtyard, where the candle smoke had cleared, 164 00:12:23.799 --> 00:12:28.840 and the sky was darkening. The first stars were appearing, 165 00:12:29.879 --> 00:12:35.399 faint and far away. After dinner, she washed the dishes 166 00:12:35.600 --> 00:12:39.720 and dried them and put them away. She checked the 167 00:12:39.799 --> 00:12:44.440 candles on the shelf, making sure they had cured properly. 168 00:12:45.559 --> 00:12:49.200 She ran her finger along the surface of Helen's candle, 169 00:12:50.080 --> 00:12:56.679 feeling the smoothness, the evenness. It was ready. She would 170 00:12:56.679 --> 00:13:00.440 call Helen tomorrow. She went to bed and lay in 171 00:13:00.480 --> 00:13:03.600 the dark and thought about the wax melting and the 172 00:13:03.639 --> 00:13:07.840 wick burning, and the scent rising. The candle was a 173 00:13:07.879 --> 00:13:12.559 simple thing, a wick in wax, and yet it was everything. 174 00:13:13.279 --> 00:13:16.840 It was light in darkness, It was warmth and cold. 175 00:13:17.480 --> 00:13:20.559 It was a small flame that said I am here. 176 00:13:21.240 --> 00:13:25.200 You are not alone. She closed her eyes and let 177 00:13:25.240 --> 00:13:28.639 the darkness hold her, and she slept, and in her 178 00:13:28.679 --> 00:13:33.799 sleep the candles burned one by one in rooms across 179 00:13:33.840 --> 00:13:37.039 the town, each one a small point of light in 180 00:13:37.080 --> 00:13:38.600 the vast and quiet night.