Quench

“A word can be a friend. You, for example. You, Quench. Yes, I am talking to you. You could be my friend. If you wake up, come alive, jump from the page, you may discover new worlds. You are adaptable, and often charming. You capture the attention of some readers. And I have the ability to bring you alive in my stories. I may find a place for you today. I'm not sure. I might use you in my writing today, or maybe tomorrow. Don’t go away."

“How might you use me William?"

"I could use you in many ways. You are a word I can use perhaps, with reference to desire. I need to quench my desire for food. You are useful as a verb. You can be used to convey actions. I quench my thirst with water.

"I want to describe an action today in my story, but I'm not certain that this action is a good fit for you. If you transform yourself into a derivative such as quenchable you become even more useful. Then I can use you as an adjective to describe things, but not in this story. I am thinking that you may not be a suitable word for this story.

“I’m looking for a word with a similar meaning for my story, but not you. Annihilate? Annihilate suggests total elimination from existence. That idea doesn’t apply to my story. It’s not an appropropriate descriptor for what must happen to my fire. I’m looking for another, better, word. You are not that word, Quench. Sorry I woke you from your slumber. Sorry to have lifted you from the page."

“You seem to be in a hurry William. My advice would be to take a rest. Relax. I’ll still be here, tomorrow, next week, next year even. I’ll be here, William, resting on my page. This word is not going anywhere. Open any dictionary, any time, when you need me, when you find a good use for me. You should set aside your writing until tomorrow. You may have some fresh ideas."

“I don’t have tomorrow. They won’t understand. Choke might be a good word. No! No! One doesn’t choke out a fire. You might think to choke a person if you are really angry, or use a choke chain on a canine. But it is inappropriate to choke out a fire, this small fire. Some writers might use you Quench with reference to a fire, but I don’t think you are the best word when referring to a fire."

“Why don’t you have tomorrow? Who won’t understand? You have nothing planned for tomorrow, do you? I’ll be here tomorrow. We could hang out."

“The meeting is tomorrow. One could dampen a fire but then you don’t put it out. If you dampen a fire you make it smaller, slow it down. Demolish a fire? A construction crew could demolish a building. That’s likely the most common use for demolish. You might also destroy a building, or dismantle it, but you wouldn’t destroy or dismantle a fire.

“Mr. Thesaurus, you say these are synonyms for quench. I don’t know that I trust you anymore, Mr. Thesaurus.

“Douse I like. One would douse a fire, especially a small fire like mine. I think my readers would understand if I doused a fire."

“I’ll ask you one more time William, why can’t you finish your story tomorrow? I’d really like to be free to return to my page today, or run some errands. I’m a busy word. There are many places where I can be used. Some writers like me. Maybe you’re just not one of them.”

"They have planned this meeting for tomorrow. They can’t change the time now. I need to finish my story for that meeting. I need to be ready for that meeting.”

“I’ve asked many times, What meeting?”

“My meeting with the writers, and their words. The others won’t forgive me if I use the wrong word here, or if I’m not ready to meet. One word, this one word, can change the meaning of the phrase, even the complete context of this short the story. Don’t you understand?

“Snuff out. I think that’s it! It’s not one word. More of an expression. But I think ‘snuff out’ expresses exactly what I want to say. Or extinguish. I like the word extinguish too. These are two very appropriate words. They are most suitable to the story. I think everyone will like this story. You can go now.”

“What about the meeting of the writers and their words? Am I invited?”

“No, you are not invited. You can go now. I don’t need you anymore. I'm taking my new friend Extinguish. I will use him in my story. Extinguish can be my friend too. Maybe tomorrow I'll use you.”

"You, you William, are not any longer my friend."