Concept Help - Paths and attachment

Alright, I need a little concept help. I am working on a game that if you hold down the left mouse button and draw a shape, I want to take one sprite, multiply it a few hundred times, give it a basic movement and attach it to the path and follow the path in the same order that the mouse drew.

Basically, if the mouse curser starts at 0,0 and draws a perfect curser to 0,1, I want 100 tiny flames to appear on the beginning of the path, follow the path, and show a circle of flames (that they drew), before slowly fading away.

Any idea on how to accomplish this? Complicated, I know, but I am really hoping for this.