Chasing Flies

Humid hot summer nights. Now spent passing time, these nights used to be filled with light from the fireflies buzzing in the dark night air. With family members like Joel, Davis, and Charlie, with friends like TJ, Julia, and Jack. Across the yard, back and forth, yelling, “caught one” over and over. Of course there was a technique. We would make our hands into little spoons and wait for the right time to close them. We were rolling, falling down the hill, jumping, leaping just to catch one with two cupped hands. And when we successfully got one, we would peek through the tiny holes in our fingers, to see a little light flying around franticly. Then the trapped firefly was carefully slipped by little hands into the mason jars with the tiny holes in the tops. While the adults and older kids weren’t interested, it was all we little kids could think about. Our every move intent on catching even just one firefly. Though we didn’t catch them all, we had enough to watch them fly around till late at night, even past when the house was dark. It was hard to find the same pleasure in anything else  And of course the fun of it wasn’t always for the flies, it was the thrill of running and playing with kids who loved it as much as you did. 

Many nights were spent doing this, when neighbors were over or family was visiting, they were spent chasing and chasing. But now time has passed, and it seems that with all that chasing on the late summer nights, we chased all the flies away. Never to run and jump to catch the little bugs. Never to get back the feeling of not caring just chasing. Maybe we all will see it again, when we have grown and have are own kids. But for now we have chased the flies away.

~ Anna T.