Moment

Throw a lit match into a clean metallic ashtray. There is a moment before it extinguishes when the flame withdraws into the head of the match and disappears. It is the precise definition of an instant, that spell before the match goes out when the fire is missing.

But it is only an instant, brief and motionless, before the match raises its head slightly and exhales a thin, straight line of smoke that rises a clean inch into the air before it tangles and once again disappears. Below a pool of moisture forms, maybe a centimeter wide.