Enter one firefly........ It landed on the young girl's hand, and as it landed, it lit up for everyone to see, as if to say, "Hey, look! I'm here!" The girl's face lit up with wide eyes, and a smile that outshone the brightness of the newly arrived guest.
I smiled, but said nothing, and continued working, watching her from the corner of my eye. She carefully arose from the grass, taking care not to disturb the firefly, who had now seemed to settle in. The child made her way to her father first, then my son, then lastly to me, with the offer of,
Everyone declined her offer, as darkness had closed in far too fast that evening, and the tasks at hand still had to be completed. She settled back onto the grass not far from me, and asked again if I would like to hold the firefly. I told her no, that she should just sit, and see what it would do... as afterall, it had come to visit her... and there must be a reason for it choosing her. She cupped her hands around the firefly, and as she slowly uncupped them, I could tell without seeing the firefly, that it had lit up again, as the child's face again brightened with a smile. She opened her hands and the firefly crawled first to one fingertip and then back to the palm of her hand. She laced her fingers together, and it slowly crawled through first one latticed opening, then the next, the whole time, mesmerizing the girl. After spending somewhere close to half an hour with the child, the firefly crawled to the tip of one of her outstretched fingers and sat for a few seconds, then blinked one more time before it flew away into the night, disappearing just as quickly as it had appeared. The firefly had explored with the same innocence and trust of the child who was holding it's life in her hands. Had it landed on the hand of one not so caring, it's life might have been snuffed out in an instant, but for the thirty or so minutes it had spent with this child, it was safe. It had found a friend. And although the child more than likely didn't realize, she was perhaps watching her childhood innocence..it was right there before her eyes, in that small illuminating firefly. The trust to have contact with another, not knowing whether that human would be kind and caring... the ability to shine in this world, hoping that the light of our selves will somehow affect another, and having the wings to carry us through this life, through the storms, the problems, and also the many wonderful things we fly past everyday and don't always take the time to notice. But mostly what seemed to impact me with the meeting of this small creature that night and the young girl... was the analogy of one so small and trusting, in a world of those so powerful in comparison.
"Look, you guys!" she exclaimed.."It's a firefly!"..
"Would you like to hold the firefly?"