Firefly

Chapter 3

June 28

Bay sat at his computer, working. The windows in his office were open, and a tender, lakeside wind blew inside, caressing his forehead and cheeks. He smelled lilies for some strange reason, but none were planted on the property. The sun had just started to set, and blistering red, orange, and purple hues covered the horizon, creating a picture-perfect postcard, painting, or photograph to hang on one of the office’s walls.

Fireflies fluttered outside his office window, flashing on and off, on and off, on and off. Although their presence wasn’t peculiar, it did seem odd that a single firefly flew particularly close to one of the window’s screens. It hung there, loitering about and peering inside, just as Bay himself would sometimes peer outside the screen.

Bay knew next to nothing about fireflies, but loved them nonetheless. As a boy, trapped along the lake at his grandparents’ A-frame, he and his younger sister, Tess, would attempt to catch the flying beetles, sometimes innocently keeping them in jars overnight and releasing them in the morning. Fireflies were simply known as lightning bugs from the Lampyridae family and produced “cold light” in their abdominal areas to attract mates or to detract predators. Bay also knew synchronized lighting by the insects acted as social interaction.

Taking a break from his work of compiling a vegetarian cookbook called Carrots Love Beets by Macy Anne Snipple, he decided to turn off his flat-screen monitor and the office’s single light that sat on his maple desk. Then he stood, walked to the window, and opened the screen, sliding it upwards.

“Come in, buddy. Take a look around,” he whispered to the firefly, which still blinked on and off, on and off, on and off outside the window.

The firefly hung in midair for a few seconds as if it were investigating the new passageway and space. Taking heed, it eventually fluttered inside.

Bay watched it zoom left to right, looping around. It continued to flash on and off a number of times. He felt one of its wings brush the tip of his nose, a cheek, and he watched its shadow spin away, heading towards his desk. The firefly danced over a few pages of notes on the desk and returned to Bay’s face. In flight, it hung just a few inches away from his stare.

“You’re a busy body, aren’t you, little guy?” he whispered to the insect. He held up a hand and extended a finger.

The lightning bug landed on his index finger. Its mass blinked bright yellow-green with a hint of gold: on and off, on and off, on and off.

“If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you like me a little.”

On and off. On and off. On and off.

“Well, you’re welcome to come and visit me anytime you want. Just so you know. I’m a friendly guy, and you seem friendly. So, I guess that makes us friends.”

On and off. On an off. On and off.

“You’re beautiful. I like your illumination.”

The firefly blinked a few more times, took off from his finger, and flew to the window. Its tiny underside flashed one more time before it exited the office, as if it were saying goodbye and to have a nice night.