The Little Matchgirl

During Christmas in Saint Petersburg, in pre-Revolution times, an impoverished girl tries to sell matchsticks on the streets but everyone is completely indifferent towards her. Later that night, the girl huddles up in a snowy alley trying to warm herself against the cold. Eventually, she decides to strike some of her remaining matches for warmth. As the matches burn, she has visions about being in a warm home, well fed, and with her loving grandmother who has died. After using up all her matches, eager to see her grandmother, the little girl dies in the night from hypothermia. The next morning, her grandmother's spirit finds her and takes her to heaven. Then, as in the original story, a comet soars across the sky, meaning that someone has died, according to her grandmother.