she had initially asked for them to be extinguished , but they had actually been rather romantic , the tiny flames flickering anxiously as if aware that their own existence was so temporal and precarious , dependent on the benevolence of the wind and rain and of their human creators ; they had been comforting too , much as she enjoyed the darkness , particularly when the sky was so clear and the stars so visible , she also knew that she had a fear of its enveloping cloak , and it was this fear that she found so exciting .