Firefly

The wind blew leaves around her ankles in swirls of red and orange. Wrapped inside her thin raincoat, she shivered due to the frigid air. Her countenance was one of narrowed concentration in avoiding the large puddles along the sidewalks and the assembled piles of dirt and leaves swept off of someone’s lawn. Her pigtails, thick and drawn out to a little point on the end, swung and bounced with each step she took. With her head bowed, she hugged her backpack tighter around her chest. It had been discovered, about a few blocks back, that holding her backpack around her chest made her warmer. Still, the recurrent gales sent tremors through her body and goosebumps on her skin. Silently, she counted her steps, rushing through the shivers of leaves on the ground now and then.

The winter air cast back on the dawning fact that winter was here. Light was leaving at six o’clock. It would be soon that her mother would forbid her to walk alone after gymnastics. She couldn’t help but let out a wistful sigh, for she loved to walk alone through the streets that seemed cheerful and so like home. But when the night would get to dark, her mother would never allow it. Feeling the dawning fact rest heavily on her shoulders, her slow progress around the puddles and piles plodded even slower. Dawdling, her mother would scold when she got home.

First she had regretted wearing her new raincoat, pink and purple and specks of green, when she found how cold it had gotten. Now she was regretting leaving on her gymnastics pants and shirt. Her teeth chattered as another gale picked up strength and blew another pile of leaves around her ankles. As much as she loved to walk through the streets, dawdling and sloshing her way around through the heavy town air, today she wished she had called her mother for a ride. She wished desperately for a bowl of warm broth and a piece of toasted bread, but she knew it would be another mile until home.

Finally she couldn’t stand it. Stopping in the midst of the sidewalk, she looked around for a store she could change in. But it was that time of the day, and the stores were closing. Their town was not a tourist town, and after six or seven no one went in at all. Gradually they all adopted to closing early. Pushing hair out of her eyes with a small hand, she gave a worn sigh. Wrapping the raincoat tighter around her middle, she proceeded on, stomping her way through the bare sidewalks.

This was a time where she missed Melissa more than ever. If this was them together, she was sure she would be fine. Melissa was always so kind to her, and somehow her sister would make everything better. But her sister was at home already, for it was she that did not want her sister walking with her.

The little girl tramped on, her shadow big on the store windows beside her. The gales were picking up slowly, recurring more and more often. She wished that she wasn’t so regretful of the things she had picked against fate. There was no way she could get home, she thought as her steps slowed down slowly. By now she had been out for an hour already and she was still not at home. Her family would be worried. But her family could not see her now. Frustrated and tired, she flopped down in the middle of the sidewalk. For some reason, different from before, she had no hope that she could ever get home. Remembering to be brave, she tried to push the tears welling in her eyes away. But they dripped out and the gale whisked them away singingly, blowing her bangs out of her eyes for her. She was so desperate for anything.

Then she saw something. A small, dancing light that flickered and jumped. It was twilight now, but she was entranced by the dancing light. Clambering to her feet, she strained to see what it was. The little girl had found something.

She still had no hope of getting home before dark came, but she wanted to know what the little light was. Logic in her mind breathed that she would probably get farther away from home running after the dancing light, but curiosity cajoled her to go. Feeling a lifting weight of something, just something to do, she propelled her legs to move. Although her legs were small and short and her toes frozen and cold, she was thin and graceful for a little girl of 6 years old. And although she couldn’t find strength to walk home, she found strength to run after the light. Then the little light disappeared into a narrow alley. Before disappointment and give up on the light, she ran after it.

The alley was dark and cold, but there was not as much of a blowing gale in the spot between the buildings. Besides, the light was right there in front of her, blinking and glowing in an enlightening type of jocular treatment. Goosebumps rising because of a sweeping gale that had aimed itself right into the alley, she moved towards the blinking light. Just as she was almost there, the light flit upwards and jolted away in a small dance and turned from the alley. However, instead of losing hope, she let out a high pitched, ringing laugh that echoed in the alley. This is a game, she thought gleefully. The light is playing a game with me! She ran cheerfully towards the end of the alley and then towards the light that was now sitting on a doorstep of a little blue house. She leaped gleefully towards it. The light bounced up to land on the next doorstep. She followed it.

When she arrived at the doorstep, she squat down next to the light. It was a bug, she could see, with a bottom that blinked and shone with the golden light. Just as she realized its reality, it flew upwards. Standing up, the little girl followed the light upwards to find her home’s door in front of her. Feeling a sudden rush of inspiration and thanks for that sweet little firefly that had somehow led her home, she pushed open the door and shouted “I’m home!!!”.