 Welcome to Spotlight Advanced. I'm Colin Louder. Spotlight uses a special English method of broadcasting. It is easier for people to understand no matter where in the world they live. A small girl walks through the streets. She is cold and hungry. Where can she find help on a cold winter's day? Matches! Light your fires with my matches! Would you like to buy some matches, sir? What about you, madam? They are the best kind. Strike them against any wall. They will burn. Someone must want some matches. Anyone? The Little Match Girl is a popular story. Hans Christian Andersen wrote this story. He wrote many children's stories in the 1800s. People like to tell the story of the Little Match Girl during the Christmas season. Both adults and children enjoy it. But is it a sad story or a happy story? Liz Wade tells the story of the Little Match Girl. A cold wind blows across the town. People hurry along, holding their warm coats close to their bodies. It is a cold winter. They will be happy to get home to their warm fires and nice food. Street sellers count their money at the end of the day. But for the Little Match Girl, there is no money to count. No one wants to buy her matches, so she is afraid to go home. Her father will beat her for sure. The Little Girl walks across the street. The snow falls on her long hair. She looks up at the tall, beautiful houses as she passes. She can hear people laughing inside. The smell of food cooking rises in the air. The people are preparing their last meal before the New Year. The Little Match Girl walks to a quiet street corner. She sits down holding her knees. She tries to pull her feet under her body. They are so cold. She has no shoes or coat. Her feet are blue from walking on the cold ground. Maybe she should go home, but even her home is not warm. Her family has no money. The Little Girl puts her head in her hands. A tear wets the side of her face. If only she could be warm for just a minute. Then she has an idea. Matches. She has her matches. Her father would be angry if she wasted any matches. But she only wants one, just one. Maybe it will warm her freezing fingers. The Little Girl gets a match. She strikes it against the wall. Fire. The warm orange light shines in the darkness. The Little Girl looks hard at the small dancing fire. She imagines that she is sitting by a warm cooking oven. It seems so real. She can see the oven. She can feel its heat. She stretches her legs and warms her feet. How the fire burns! Then the fire from the match goes out. The oven disappears. The Little Girl is once again in the cold darkness. Only the half-burnt match remains in her hand. The Little Girl is so sad. Her happiness had come and gone so quickly. Maybe she could burn one more match. She takes another, and she strikes it against the wall. Fire lights up her sad face. She smiles. This time she sees the wall become thin. It is almost like paper. She can see through it. Behind it she sees a room. Such beauty! There is a huge table with hot food on it. She can almost taste the hot food. She reaches out for a little to feed her hungry stomach. But suddenly the fire from the match goes out. Once more everything disappears. Only the gray wall remains before her. So the Little Girl strikes another match. The golden fire burns again. This time she is under a huge Christmas tree. Beautiful bells and flowers hang from the tree. Lights shine from its green branches. It is the most beautiful tree she has ever seen. She reaches her hands toward the lights. Then the match goes out. But the Christmas lights begin to change into stars in the sky. One of the stars falls back to earth. The Little Girl thinks to herself, Someone must be dying. The Little Girl starts to think of her dead grandmother. Her grandmother told her that when a star falls from the sky, a soul goes up to God. She misses her grandmother so much. The Little Girl lights another match. This time standing in the light she sees her grandmother. Her grandmother was the only person who ever showed her love. She looks beautiful. The Little Girl cries, Grandmother, take me with you. I know when the fire goes out you will disappear. Please take me with you. The Little Girl takes all the matches. One by one she strikes them against the wall. She burns them quickly so the picture does not disappear. The light shines brighter and brighter. It is as bright as day. She sees her grandmother more clearly. Her grandmother has never been so beautiful. The Little Girl reaches out to her grandmother. Her grandmother stretches out her arms to receive the Little Girl. The Grandmother takes the Little Girl in her arms. They fly together in joy high above the earth. There is no cold, hunger, or fear. They are with God. In the corner on the street, the Little Girl is leaning against the wall. She has red cheeks and a smiling mouth. But she is frozen. The New Year's sun rises on the sad figure. The child sits there still and cold. She is holding a bundle of half-burned matches. Only a few people walk on the quiet streets. They stop at the street corner. They see a small body on the ground. Poor thing, she was trying to keep warm, the people comment. But no one knew the beautiful things she had seen. They did not know how happy she was to be with her grandmother. She had gone happily into the New Year. The Little Match Girl is a popular story at Christmas time. It is an imaginary story, but people see many messages in it. Some people say the Little Match Girl makes them think about people who have less than them. They think about people who may be poor or lonely at Christmas or the holidays. The story encourages them to help people in need. Other people see a message behind the pictures in the story. Each vision made the Little Match Girl feel happy. But the picture she wanted to stay with her was the one of her grandmother. This was the only one that offered a different kind of happiness. Love Unconditional love is another message some people see in the story. The grandmother represents a love that does not die. This love carries the Little Girl to a place without pain or suffering. This makes some people think about God's love and heaven, especially at Christmas time. And they think of his love that will carry them to a better place one day. Heaven Have you heard this story before? Do you think this story was a sad story or a happy story? Tell us what you think. You can leave a comment on our website or email us at contact at spotlightenglish.com You can also find us on YouTube, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. The writer of this program was Marina Santy. The producer was Michio Ozaki. The voices you heard were from the United Kingdom and the United States. You can listen to this program again and read it on the internet at www.spotlightenglish.com This program is called The Story of the Little Match Girl. Visit our website to download our free official app for Android and Apple devices. We hope you can join us again for the next Spotlight program. From all of us at Spotlight, Merry Christmas!