Butterscotch, our golden retriever, raised his head in recognition. I could see Mom’s blue SUV pulling into our driveway next door. I couldn’t join them, but for once I didn’t feel left out-a firefly had already found me. The two of them whirled across the lawn, laughing and reaching for the tiny lights. Let me go help her before she scares them all out of town! she said, double-checking to make sure the locks on the wheels of my wheelchair were secure. V, whose full name was Violet Valencia, turned to me.
Penny rolled into a somersault and popped up with an ease I couldn’t help but admire and said, Okay-we’ll catch us some bugs, then we let them fly! I’d feel smooshed and stuffy.Įxactly! So, what do you think we should do? V countered, what if I found a jug big enough for you to fit in? Would you want to live there? "I’m too big! But a bug in a jug even sounds right!" But we’re gonna let it go after we look at it, okay?įine, Penny grumbled, folding her arms across her chest. Just one? Penny put on her most pitiful face.Īll right, Mrs. She winked at me before saying, Well, maybe they don’t want to live in a bottle-maybe they just want to boogie tonight! V, who was our next-door neighbor and Mom’s best friend, lounged on a padded recliner on her front porch. They won’t listen to me! She plunked down on the grass, her face scrunched into a frown. If my firefly had joined that swarm, I’m sure that he and the others had to be laughing at Penny, sky dancing away from her.Ĭome help, Mrs. V’s front yard, a jar clutched in her hands, trying to convince one of the tiny glowing insects to zoom into it. Ooh! Look! There’s another one-and another! my sister shrieked. I might have breathed out too hard, because at that moment, the tiny insect lifted its wings and took off on an unseen breeze. It spoke to me! I know quite a bit about speaking out loud without saying a word.Īs we sat there in the purpling twilight, just me and that lightning bug, I sighed with happiness. One tiny bloom of bright yellow-green light gleamed from its body. Firefly? As if it could hear me, its wings flexed out and in. I wondered about the magic of having iridescent floaties attached to my body-what it would feel like to lift into the air and glide on a whisper of wind. The firefly seemed to be in no hurry to leave. Dark lines that looked like they’d been painted on its back with a fine-tipped pen separated the crimson from the ebony. Its black wings, so shiny, opened and closed like scissors. My hands often move on their own, whether I want them to or not, so I focused intensely, willing myself to remain still. Two wire-thin antennae, flickering, protruded from its tiny round head painted with a small red dot. The firefly hovered over the back of my hand, then landed-slowly, effortlessly.
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