Firefly Wishes

“Okay now what?” Laura asks her big sister Jenny. She has a lightning bug pinched between her fingers. She giggles, and her nose does that weird thing where it gets all wrinkly in the middle.

It is a hot and humid July night in Virginia. Jenny and Laura have been living with their mom and grandmother for a few months now. Jenny likes her grandmother’s house and everything, but she prefers their old house. That one had two stories and a fireplace where they would hang their stockings for Santa. She also had her own room at that house. Now she must share a room with Laura and her mom. Grandma’s house is a lot smaller and Jenny always feels crammed inside. That is why she relishes the summer nights spent outside with Laura. She looks over at Laura now, still holding the bug in her hand and looking expectantly at Jenny.

“Well, you have a few options. First, you put it in this jar and we can collect them. Like fairies” she answers. Laura’s face lights up at the mention of fairies and she is just about to say something when Jenny puts a finger on Laura’s lips and says, “Wait. There are more options. You could also take this needle and thread and make your very own glow necklace with him. Or, you can squish him in your fingers and spread the glow juice all over your body.”

Laura’s eyes get really wide and her lip trembles. She doesn’t think those are good options. “I want to do the fairy thing” she whispers.

The last thing Jenny wants to see, is Laura crying. There has already been enough crying these past few months for her. So, she quickly says, “Fairies it is!” and unscrews the top of the jar and Laura dumps the bug in. “That’s good. Now we just have to catch about twenty more!”

               Grandma watches from her rocking chair on the front porch as Laura and Jenny run around chasing the lightning bugs. Good. Be kids.  She thinks to herself as she knits another pair of socks for her daughter. She wishes that she could do more to help, but providing socks to keep her daughter’s feet warm will just have to do for now.  Besides, this helps keep her mind off of the future. A place she finds her mind wandering towards a lot these days. She puts her knitting needles down and tries up her best to soak up her grandchildren’s laughter.

“Wow, look at all of ‘em!” Laura gasps once her and Jenny have put the final bug into the jar. They are seated Indian style on the grass, beads of sweat dripping down their brows. The sun has gone down now, but the air is still thick with the summer’s heat.  

“I know they aren’t really fairies, but do you think that we could still make a wish?” Jenny says with a smirk. She is three years older than Laura and doesn’t want to lose her status as the cooler, more mature sister. An 11-year-old shouldn’t believe in things like fairies and wishes after all.

“Yes! But then we have to let them go so they can carry our wishes away to the real fairies.” Laura says as she looks up towards the stars that are just beginning to litter the sky.

Jenny looks at her younger sister and suddenly gets a pang of guilt. She should have never mentioned the wishes. She knows exactly what her sister is going to wish for. The same thing that she too wishes for every time she sees a shooting star or finds a stray eyelash. This wish that Jenny knows will never come true, no matter how badly they want it.

“Okay, sure. We will let them free. But you have to say your wish inside your brain, not out loud. Or else it won’t come true.” She smiles at Laura. She can’t bear to hear her younger sister say those words out loud. 

Jenny watches as Laura closes her eyes and concentrates hard on her wish and then opens her eyes. She sees the hope in Laura’s eyes and for a second even she believes that maybe, just maybe, if they truly believe, then this wish will come true.  Jenny unscrews the top of the jar and watches as the all of the tiny lights bright up the sky even more so than the stars. Then she closes her eyes and whispers her wish to the night sky.

“I wish that my mom wasn’t dying from cancer.”   Then she takes her sister’s hand, gives it a squeeze and then says, “tag your it” and runs away giggling as Laura chases after her into the house.