CANDOR

Fireflies

"Hello, dear child, will you stay a bit? We can play, we can dance, we can try to sing a song. Will you stay a while?"

The fireflies plea the young boy, and he agrees with a beaming smile.
They met every evening during the warm summer night, their time spent on delirious entertainment as they ran, joked, played, and sang.
The fireflies, however, where watching him.

A school year passed, and the boy returned the next summer, as lively and content as the last. Together, they again spent their time singing, dancing, and playing.
Every night the fireflies would glow and guide the boy safely to and from the fields, and eagerly awaited his next visit as fall drew near. Once again, the boy returned the next summer, looking much more grown, but just as playful as last year.
Each visit was a traditional game of tag, a song or two, and jokes that made the boy's sides ache.
As for the fireflies, they felt that it was time. This boy was worthy.

The next summer, however, the boy did not come bounding up the hill with a bright toothy smile.
In fact, he never turned up.
The fireflies' hearts sank.
The boy did not return the following year, either, or the next. By now, the fireflies lost hope, and decided it was best to move on and find someone else.

One day, in the middle of the summer, someone trudged slowley up the hill, hands buried in their pockets, head cast to the ground, and sunken, dry eyes.

The fireflies recognized him, even if he had grown quite a bit. They shot from the blades of grass they rested on, glowed brighter than ever, and swarmed around him, cheering and singing.

"Where have you been, little boy?" The fireflies would ask him.

"I am little no longer and have tasted the bitter cup of reality. It has poisoned me and I am but nothing to the world."
He said.

"What do you mean?" The fireflies asked.

"I do not meet the expectations of the world. I am not handsome, I am not well liked, I am not what others seek. I am just another mouth to feed and the world could do better without my burden."

The fireflies were shocked into silence. They did not foresee this in such a happy, blissful child they once knew.

"It's going to be okay." A firefly said courageously.

"That doesn't mean anything. It's overused and-"

"Well, somebody had to say it!" The firefly said.

"You are always little to us. You have not heard our secrets." The tiny glowing bug told him.

"Secrets?" The boy asks, his mood lightening a little.

"Yes. Without this knowledge, one will never grow." Other fireflies chime in.

"Tell me, fireflies, what are your secrets? Perhaps I may do good with them?" The boy perks up, and the fireflies are pleased with this gesture.

"Listen close, and listen well." They whisper into his ear.
"People who dislike you will find reasons to dislike you."

"In your lifetime, you will meet many who will take issue with you and what you do." Another firefly adds.
"It's up to you to reflect upon you behavior and determine if their complaints are valid."

"You should always strive to improve yourself, but there are some who will never be satisfied with your efforts."
The fireflies bunch together, dancing around the boy as they chant.

"Don't break yourself for those who would ignore when you bend. Some things you simply must let go."

And with that, the fireflies disperse in a flash, and the glowing fields fade to darkness, leaving nothing but the boy alone in the fields.
He no longer feels upset, instead, he himself glows as the warmth pulses in his chest.
He now radiates with the pleasant light the fireflies once held, and they were his now.

The boy grew up, still experiencing hardships and sour moments, but the light within him keeps his head higher, and he keeps trying.
The boy never became famous, successful, or even good looking. Rather, he had a mind, talents, skills, a beautiful wife who saw his glow, and two children who he raised with great care and love.

He is happy.

For a while.

The secrets the fireflies told him, he never told another soul. And on his deathbed, he vows he will find someone as the fireflies had him, and share his light with them.

After his death, the light left his body and transformed into tiny little bugs, each glowing a small share of the light.
The newborn fireflies linger at the hospital for a few days, and watch as an old lady and two adults kneel by the bed of a body.

"His work will go on." The old lady says.

And sure enough, it will. The fireflies returned to the hill they had found the first child and waited.

One day, a boy wanders by on a warm summer day.

"Hello, dear child, will you stay a bit? We can play, we can dance, we can try to sing a song. Will you stay a while?"

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Fireflies was written by Noise of The Sovereign Minds.