Owl City: a Collection

Fireflies

There was a small ache in Thesper’s heart as she lay down to go to sleep. Her hands tugged the covers over her shoulders, and she closed her eyes. The events of the day were wearing down on her. Tossing and turning, her eyes continued to open in defiance of her wishes. She frowned at the ceiling, letting her eyes trace over the popcorn-like texture that covered it. She closed her eyes again, only for them to open once more. She was too tired to fall asleep.

She frowned in distress, creating a mental image of her problems, which she shoved into the farthest corner of her mind. When they tried to push their way forward, Thesp cloaked them in a blanket to obscure them from view. This shield that she brought up was an image- a person. His familiar features brought her comfort, and imaging his smile made her heart ache in an entirely different way. She missed him. But even miles apart, he was able to bring her peace.

“Adam.” She whispered the name, letting a smile pull at the corners of her mouth. His brown eyes danced with happiness, and her smile grew. She bunched up her covers, wrapping her arms around them as if they were a person. Safety enveloped her, and sleep finally welcomed her.

For a time she slept peacefully, but Adam remained on her mind.

A few hours into sleep, the blissful darkness she rested in was disturbed. A cool breeze washed over her shoulders, and her eyes opened to a star strewn sky. She spent a little while watching the stars twinkle softly. Her eyes traced over the specks of light, trying to find patterns among them. Then she tried to find familiar patterns, like Leo, Orion, and the Big Dipper… But try as she might, there were no such constellations. It was as if she was looking at an entirely different sky.

Thesp sat up, looking at her surroundings for the first time. She was lying in a field, and the tall grass blades swayed in a virtually nonexistent breeze. Wildflowers poked up their heads all across the field, and she smiled at their dull, twilit colors. She turned her head to look in the other direction, and gasped, realizing that there was a person beside her. He was gazing at the stars just as she had been. Oh how she had missed him. “Adam?”

His eyes turned to her, and they widened in surprise. “Thesp?”

Words were no longer needed. The emotion pulling them together was strong and vivid as they embraced. “I missed you.” They whispered as one. Thesp smiled, laying her head on his shoulder. A small part of her knew that this was a dream. But the rest of her was too overjoyed to care.

“Am I dreaming?” Adam asked, perhaps sensing her thoughts.

“If you are, then I am too.” Thesp pulled away, longing to see his face. They spent a moment, gazing quietly at each other. She was beginning to think that she could spend forever looking at him when a soft glow approached from behind her. She wouldn’t have noticed it, except that it stole Adam’s attention and she became rapidly jealous. When she looked, she had to blink a few times. What she saw was a thousand stars swimming towards her. Unable to believe her eyes, she closed them, and then looked again. Only then did she see that the stars had tiny wings carrying them. “Fireflies…” She breathed.

Their light filled the air with an ethereal glow. Unafraid, the fireflies landed on their skin, fluttering their wings. The creatures tugged on their clothing with nearly enough strength to lift them off the ground.

 “They’re tickling me.” Thesp said, giggling. “It feels like… thousands of little hugs.” She lifted her arms, examining every one of the insects. The peaceful, fluttering mass pushed her towards Adam with surprising force. “Oh!” She stumbled forward, quickly caught in a pair of arms. Straightening up, she found her face quite close to Adam’s.

“I think they want us to dance.” He mumbled shyly.

A blush lit up Thesp’s cheeks. “Do you think so?” She asked, smiling back.  Adam nodded, cautiously sliding his arms around her. Unhappy with this, the fireflies ganged up to adjust his arms until one was around her waist and his other hand was clasped in hers. They also positioned Thesp’s free arm, letting it rest on his shoulder. They had been completely rearranged, but they lightning bugs weren’t done with them yet.

With unbelievable cooperation, the fireflies joined together to form two human silhouettes. They began to dance. One of the firefly dancers waved a hand at them, begging them to join their ball. “We need to dance like them.” Thesp said breathlessly, watching the effortless movements that the fireflies made.

“I don’t think I can dance like that.” Adam said admittedly. “But I suppose we can try. It’s easy, right? You just put one foot in front of the other and do the…” He looked down at his feet, stumbling over himself as he attempted to follow his own instructions. Thesp laughed. “I’m trying…” He whined.

She shook her head at him. “Let me lead.” She smiled, stopping him with one hand.

“But you can’t lead! I’m the guy…” His face was distress itself.

Thesp gave him a look, and he submitted immediately. As soon as she took over, their movement was superfluous. The complicated dance became second nature in a matter of seconds. The two pairs danced in circles around each other, and sweet sounding music filled the air. Adam lifted Thesp’s hand and she twirled dizzyingly, coming back to him with a small stumble. He smiled, catching her once more. The cool night air was laced with the sounds of bird’s singing. Thesp thought it was odd, since birds were usually asleep at night.

Then the fireflies broke apart, showering them in thousands of tiny lights. The bugs barged between them, splitting them apart and stealing the two for a short dance. Thesp laughed, swaying with ten thousand dancing partners. Adam looked over, realizing that he was quite jealous.

The air was filled with a musical hum, which could only be the fireflies singing along with the hovering melody.

In a moment, they were spun back to each other and the fireflies danced away. Adam quickly wrapped his arms around her. “How rude.” He said, glaring at the bugs.

Thesp laughed, and gently turned his face to her. Her expression softened, and the field suddenly went quiet. In a mad act of courage, Adam leaned forward and tenderly pressed his lips to hers. The air was still, as if everything around them was gazing upon them in adoration. Thesp pulled herself close, her eyes closing. It felt like a pair of fireflies had been caught in her stomach. Adam’s arms encircled her waist, and she felt at peace.

In that exact moment, she felt Adam vanish from beneath her. “What?” Her eyes snapped open. “Adam?” He was gone. Her heart ached once more. “Adam?” She called, more loudly. One of the fireflies approached her, and then it began to make annoying beeping sounds. She enclosed her hand around it, sure that it had caused Adam to leave. “What did you do?” She demanded.

“I’ll find you, Thesp! I promise!” Adam’s voice echoed to her from a distance place.

“Adam!” She cried desperately.

Her own voice awakened her. Thesp bolted up, only to see that she was now in her bedroom. Through her groggy vision, she could see her phone was beeping at her, commanding her to awaken. Groaning, she dismissed the alarm and stretched. The dream was fresh in her mind, and she wanted nothing more than to return to it. That was when she felt a creature fluttering in her hand. Confused, she opened her fingers only to see a firefly leave her grasp, and begin to fly in mad circles. She gasped, and rubbed her eyes. But when they opened again, the creature was still buzzing around the room. “You can’t leave.” She whispered, scrambling out of bed. She shut her bedroom door and then ran to her window. She slide on her knees, feeling the friction build beneath her. But this was more important than a rug burn. She slammed the window shut, knowing that there was nowhere for the firefly to go now.

Thesp dumped a jar of pencils, and swiped the glass through the air, trying frantically to catch it. In a random chance of fate, the firefly met the interior of the jar. Her hand slapped over the mouth of the container. “Gotcha!” She exclaimed.

“Now I have proof… Proof that it was real.”