Then, as if someone had flipped a switch, the whole night sky began to blink. So many fireflies darting and zipping, each one brightening the night for less than a second, until the next flash. Hey, maybe Penny was looking at fireflies right now at home…. Wouldn’t that be cool?
Suddenly a boy in a slightly dirty purple T-shirt came barreling past us on a walker. He let go of it as he reached out and grabbed into the air. “Got one—got two!” he shouted, nearly tripping over my wheelchair.
“Ooh! Let me see!” Athena begged. The boy pivoted around, leaned on his walker for support, and partially opened his cupped hands to reveal a pair of fireflies.
I was wondering, Who is this kid?
“Ooh, pretty! Pretty. Pretty,” Jocelyn said, coming close, peering into the boy’s hand.
“Do they bite?” Athena wanted to know, bouncing on her toes. I knew the answer to that! I made a soft grunt so she’d look over, and shook my head no.
“Melody’s right!” Trinity agreed. “No. All they want to do is fly around and make the night sky pretty. Oh, and to find other little fireflies to hang out with.”
“Why do they glow like that?” Karyn asked, straining to see. The boy bent forward to show her, too.
“To send a message!” I typed out quickly. The boy looked at me for a moment, then nodded his head in agreement. He had thick, tousled curls and almond-shaped eyes that reflected the firelight. He. Was. Cute. And he never really stopped moving—sort of like the lightning bugs in his hands.
“Points for Melody—right again,” Trinity agreed. “Their blinking backsides are like a text message to other lightning bugs that says, ‘Y’all come on out tonight—we’ve got a party going on here!’?”
The firefly boy gave a laugh, but then said, “We should let them go. Maybe they can find some glowworms and have a party!” His voice sounded a little hoarse, like he’d been gargling dirt or something.
Karyn looked thoughtful, then said, “I bet they’re scared and just want to be home with their moms.”
“True, that,” the boy said with a nod.
Jocelyn murmured, “Scared. Scared. Scared.”
Athena pursed her lips. “Yep!”
“Anything that’s got wings ought to be able to zoom where it wants to!” Karyn added fiercely.
And I tapped, “Yes, yes, yes.”
A bunch of other kids had gathered to see the fireflies too, and now we circled around the boy as he spread his hands open like wings themselves. For several long seconds, nothing happened. Then the fireflies blinked their black and golden bodies and lifted themselves into the darkness.
Free.
CHAPTER 17
By the time Trinity got my face washed and teeth brushed, and we’d gone back to our cabin, where I changed into my pajamas and was tucked into my bunk, I was wiped out. The bed—actually just a mattress on a rectangular wooden box—wasn’t soft like at home, but it wasn’t lumpy, either. And Mom had packed my favorite blanket—the turquoise cotton one that lived at the bottom of my bed. When Trinity snugged it around me, I could smell Dad’s bean soup and Mom’s scented candles; Penny’s raggedy old Doodle, which actually smelled pretty funky; and the hot doggy breath of Butterscotch. Interesting, I thought, to be not at home and still smell home at the same time. This place, I guess, smelled kinda brown—not ugly, mud-colored brown, but the brown of tree bark and paths made of earth. Not so bad.
It was dim in the cabin, but not really dark. I guess they didn’t want anybody to get scared and freak out. The windows had shutters that filtered the moonlight from outside, but not so much that we couldn’t see what was going on. Once we campers settled in, our counselors climbed into the beds above us, those bunks hardly even shaking. I guess Mom would approve, but boy, they weren’t kidding when they told us the counselors never left our sides!
I was thinking that it was probably fun to be on top, to hang over and talk to the person below you, when Athena, in the bed across from me, whispered, “G’night, everybody!”
Karyn mumbled something I couldn’t make out—I bet she was just about out. Jocelyn, however, who sounded wide awake, called out, “Nighty, nighty, nighty!” I took a deep breath and forced out, “Nuh!” I wish I could have said more. But I’m pretty sure they knew that.
Flickering camp lanterns dangled from each counselor’s bed. Not oil—that would be way too dangerous—just a battery-powered flame, like a mini bonfire. It actually made the cabin seem sort of pretty.
I lay there for a long time. Sleep seemed to be having a hard time finding me. The cabin was quiet now but nowhere close to silent. Athena snored! Karyn coughed every so often. Jocelyn mumbled in her sleep. I heard her say, “Go, go, go,” and then something that sounded like “Mushy, mushy, mushy”—I wasn’t sure. Even in her sleep she spoke in threes!
I wondered what I did in my sleep. I hoped it was nothing embarrassing like farting or anything.
I could hear tree frogs outside—at least that was what I thought was making that chirpy sound. I remembered that from studying for Whiz Kids in fifth grade—Mrs. V would be so proud. Besides, birds wouldn’t be up this late, would they? I guessed they were probably asleep. But then I started to wonder, How do birds sleep, anyway? Do they just close their eyes while sitting on a branch? Why don’t they fall off?
I never did figure it out.
CHAPTER 18
I woke up with a gasp. Where was I?
Camp. That’s right. Camp. So it was Monday. And I was still here. I looked across to the next bed. And, ha-ha, so was Karyn! She didn’t even mention going home last night!
Birds were chirping so loudly outside I couldn’t believe they hadn’t woken everybody up. I guess for them, living here must be like hanging out in paradise all the time—zillions of trees and bugs and worms, and limitless sky.
Trinity came over and squatted by my bed. “Good morning, early bird,” she whispered, smoothing my blanket, like Mom does. Hey, how’d she climb down from her bunk without me hearing?