Grows Fast, Fears Water

Riddle:

I rise when fed and shrink in rain. I don’t breathe, yet I die without air. I’m never alive, but I live briefly. What am I?

Answer:

Fire — Fire grows when given fuel, yet disappears when water is poured on it. It needs oxygen to burn (as if it “breathes”) but isn’t alive. The riddle tricks you by describing something as living, though it’s purely chemical.