"Noctua pronuba!" echoed a smoky voice through the tunnel near the Plumber's Falls Paper Dam.
Out of the darkness, another voice emerged.
"We are dying from overwork," it said. It was Ellychnia.
The only light that shone was from the blue ghosts, who gathered tightly together.
"We should be grateful they chose this dump town for the industry," growled Phausis.
"Not if they know it makes us sick," Ellychnia snapped.
Light from Photuris began to flicker angrily before giving off a cold chill.
Pyractomena soon grew close to Photuris, offering comfort.
"Noctua pronuba!" boomed Photinus. A surreal stillness permeated the atmosphere. No light shone from either end of the tunnel, and a slow drip emanated eerily in the dampness. The blue ghosts surrounded him. A thousand flapping wings cascaded from the ceiling of the tunnel. The group was still with silent wonder. A brilliant sea of large yellow underwings had filled the space.
"Linnaeus!" commanded Photinus. A large moth came to hover by his side. "Will you join us?" he asked.
The Lampyridae were joined by hundreds of moths, and the group began to chant:
Hieracium
Albiflorum
Hieracium
Albertinum
Hieracium
Horridum
Hieracium
Floribundum
Hieracium
Glomeratum
Hieracium
Gronovii
Hieracium
Praealtum
Hieracium
Sabaudum
Hieracium
Venosum
Noctua pronuba
Of order Lepidoptera
Feed upon the Hawkweed
Save our light.
Then, all was silent, and the tunnel was aglow with many lightly beating hearts.
YOU ARE READING
Planted
Science FictionSeventeen year old Misty Cellars lives in a double-wide trailer where she bargains with a local drug gang to keep her mother out of prison. After losing her father to heroin, she is invited to a weekend church gathering, or so it appears. Instead, M...
