Layered Wax

I set my pickaxe flat on the hardwood floor and knelt before a spent pillar candle resting near the lamp base. Its rim had solidified into uneven, concentric ripples. Instead of piercing the material, I pressed the pad of my thumb against a hardened droplet on the side. The wax yielded under warmth, softening slightly before detaching in an intact flake. I aligned four detached flakes by size along the grain of the floorboard, observing their declining thicknesses. The internal texture was dense, smooth, and opaque. Satisfied with the sequence, I rested back on my heels.