A little girl wandered through the freezing night with her head uncovered and her feet bare. Her oversized shoes had slipped off earlier, one crushed by a passing carriage and swept away with the snow, the other taken by a boy who wanted to use it as a toy for his dog. With nothing left to protect her, the bitter cold turned her feet red and purple as she clutched the bundles of matches in her apron. People hurried past her on the glowing New Year’s Eve streets, not sparing her a single glance. The smell of roasted goose drifted from warm homes and made her remember the happy holidays she once had with her grandmother. Those memories were gone now, replaced by loneliness and harsh treatment in her own house.
She curled up in a corner between two buildings, trying to shield herself from the piercing wind. Going home would bring no comfort. Her father would scold her if she returned without selling the matches, and the house was just as cold as the street. Her fingers stiffened until she could barely move them, and in desperation she lit her first match. The tiny flame glowed warmly, and for a moment she imagined herself sitting before a bright stove. She stretched out her hands to feel the warmth she longed for, but the match burned out and the dark, freezing street appeared again.
She struck a second match and saw a grand dining table filled with food, including a roasted goose that seemed to move toward her on its own. Her heart leapt with hope, but the flame faded and the vision vanished, leaving only cold walls and empty streets. No one walking by noticed the small girl trembling alone in the night. She lit a third match and saw a tall Christmas tree covered in glowing candles. When she reached for it, the match went out and the lights floated upward like stars. She remembered her grandmother’s words that when a star fell, a soul was rising to heaven.
With trembling hands, she lit another match. In its warm glow, her beloved grandmother appeared, smiling gently just as she remembered. The girl cried softly, begging her not to disappear, asking her to take her along. When the match went out, the image dissolved. Desperate not to lose her grandmother again, she lit all the remaining matches, and in a final burst of light her grandmother lifted her into her arms. Together they rose higher and higher, free from hunger, cold, and fear.
The next morning, townspeople stepped outside joyfully to welcome the New Year. Against a wall, they found the little match girl, her cheeks rosy and a peaceful smile on her lips. She had frozen to death during the night, surrounded by burned matchsticks. No one knew the visions she had seen. No one knew that she left the world in warmth and joy, carried gently into the sky by the grandmother she loved.