Beyond the Firefly Field

by Munzing, R. E.

  “Yes, but she won’t throw for fun anymore.”

  Clayton wondered about the story behind those words, and then discovered he was absentmindedly stroking a caterpillar’s fuzzy coat. Penny rubbed her cheek against the caterpillar and giggled.

  The loud snapping noise of a nearby twig caught his attention, and he could hear the twins now joining them.

  “No, MarLan, I’m Phil.”

  “I’m LeeLan. MarLan is with Phil.”

  “I’m Paul.”

  The rustling of leaves behind the tree grew louder and closer. Suddenly, an alarmingly large deer head appeared from behind the tree. At Clayton’s new size, the deer appeared sixty feet tall, and twenty feet of the monster deer appeared to be looming above him. As the rest of the deer came into sight, Clayton staggered into Penny’s table. Paul and Phil lunged back, falling into LeeLan and MarLan, or MarLan and LeeLan as the case may be. Ron, Karl, and Brian toppled into Clayton and fell down in a mass of arms and legs.

  The giant deer looked down at them as an even larger deer walked into the field and started eating grass. The antlers proclaimed him to be the mate of the smaller doe. The doe leaned her head toward the branch and sniffed. Then she snorted a wind strong enough for Clayton to feel.

  She looked at the branches above and behind Clayton, then ducked under the branch they were sitting on. Her movements seemed to be in slow motion, as so much deer had to pass under the branch. When her back scratched against the branch’s underside, it felt like an earthquake. As the branch wobbled, Clayton quickly joined Ron, Karl, and Brian who were crouching down in fear of falling. Phil and Paul were stretched flat against the branch next to the standing and confused twin fairies.

  Once the deer passed where the group hunkered, she stood on her back legs with her front legs braced against the trunk. Her head peered over a higher branch. Several fairies started talking to the doe, pointing in various directions. The animal now seemed to be a hundred feet tall. Clayton looked around, careful not to make any sudden moves, which could cause a tumble. He first glanced at his friends, who were still crouching down and holding on for dear life. He then searched for Penny, who amazingly was still standing. All around him, the fairies were waiting as if there was nothing to be concerned about.

  As Clayton started to get up, the deer apparently finished her visit and pivoted her body to stand on all four legs. He fell back as the deer came closer to him in her turn from the tree. When the doe finally took a few steps into the field and started munching grass with her mate, he felt much safer and stood up. He turned toward SeeLee, but quickly fell back down again. He was shocked to see a baby deer right behind SeeLee. Its head reached just above the branch and seemed larger than a car. SeeLee gently rubbed its nose, then pointed to the field.

  The baby deer scrambled into the field to find its mother and scamper after fireflies.

  The buck raised his head as a fairy flew in front of him. The fairy hovered by the deer, then pointed across the field before finding a perch on his antlers. The deer family then took off across the field, scattering fireflies along the way. Five more fairies raced after them, joining the fairy that was happily joyriding on the antlers.

  “Is that–”

  “Yes, Clayton, it’s normal. You just missed their visit the last time you were here. We could still see you crossing the field when the deer showed up.”

  “Why didn’t they get smaller?”

  “Because they are part of the tree’s natural environment.”

  Everyone was back on their feet now, acting like nothing had happened.

  “Why are those fairies riding on the deer’s antlers?” Karl asked. AnDrin helped him off the branch.

  “One is leading the deer to a food source. The others bet each other to see who can stay on the antlers the longest. They usually get scraped off by branches,” AnDrin replied.

  “One is riding only because AnDrin is watching him,” SeeLee teased.

  “MinDar has been showing off for a while now,” AnDrin sighed.

  “You should probably ask him to the next moon dance before he hurts himself,” SeeLee advised.

  “Maybe I should. And when are you going to ask DrenRay?”

  “Not soon. He’s too sure of himself, so I’m going to make him wait and wonder.”

  “MinDar can wait too, then.”

  “That’s so cool! You guys have boyfriends!” Penny cried with delight.

  “Of course we do, but we can’t let them feel too secure about us,” SeeLee said with a wink.

  Walking toward the trunk of the tree again, and stepping over yet another line of beetles carrying berries, the group saw a knot on the trunk swing open. Two fairies from within stepped through the threshold of the door and onto the branch. One of them was SanArEnDar. He held a female fairy’s hand as they walked, so Clayton presumed her to be SeeLee’s mother.

  Her mother was slightly taller than SeeLee and had an exquisitely beautiful face. She had bright-yellow hair, and her features were very much like SeeLee’s. She wore a long, silky, bright-white gown. Like luxurious satin, some of the white cloth appeared brighter and shimmered like pearls when she moved.

  A long-sleeved top fashioned of the same material covered the gown, and tan and green leaf strips were woven into the cape-like garment. The tans and greens cascaded down, growing thicker and darker. Bright gold and green gems created flower and vine designs, sprinkling over the ensemble. Fringe, dangling from the center of the floral designs, brought the flowers to life when she walked. The fringed ends were trimmed with green feathers, which morphed into hues of yellow and blue when she drew closer to them. Penny couldn’t decide if the fairy or her clothes was more beautiful.

  As the couple walked along the branch, fairies stopped what they were doing to joyously greet them. The female fairy’s eyes were a pastel green with gold specks that sparkled as she returned the greetings. Her smile seemed to bring sunshine and happiness to everyone she graced with her glance. After the couple passed, fairies returned to whatever they were doing with big smiles crossing their faces, as if blessings had just been bestowed upon them. The gracious fairy’s presence was so overwhelming that not even fairies could take their eyes away until she passed.

  When the majestic couple finally approached the group, SeeLee greeted them. “Mother, look what I found,” she said, sweeping her arm to indicate the group of humans.

  Then SanArEnDar announced, “This is SeeLee’s mother, MarJoReAn.”

  The beautiful fairy amazed the group. As she looked at each one and greeted them by name, they were filled with love and happiness, almost rendering them giddy in her presence. Each stammered a greeting to SeeLee’s mother and looked down, smiling sheepishly, unable to say anything else. They could see where SeeLee got her calming, soothing demeanor, assuring that everything would always be wonderfully okay.

  When greeted by this woman, everything was okay. Cares, worries, and discomfort evaporated when the warm smile and sparkling eyes of the beautiful fairy fell upon them.

  Finding her voice, Penny said excitedly, “I just knew you were SeeLee’s mother! You’re so beautiful, just like SeeLee. And your clothes are so pretty.”

  “Oh! Thank you, Penny,” MarJoReAn said, raising her arms to the little girl who hurried into them. Her hug made Penny feel more secure, comforted, and loved than she could ever have imagined possible, and she wanted the embrace to last forever. Then politely breaking away, Penny returned to SeeLee’s side, looking down and smiling shyly.

  They all looked up as MarJoReAn explained the evening’s activities they had been observing. As MarJoReAn offered a glimpse into everyday fairy life, she explained how each fairy made something to be shared or traded with the other fairies. This created a community lifestyle, which was easy and pleasant. She concluded by asking if SeeLee had warned them about the helper fairies.

  “Yes!” Clayton answered. “And we got to see one in action. The helper was trying to help a beetle carry a berry. What a
disaster. The berry was destroyed, and the aftermath left them both covered in berry juice. It was really funny,” he chuckled.

  “Yes, it often is,” she agreed. “They have such sweet intentions, and we love them dearly. Just sidestep their help, and you’ll be fine,” she advised.

  Then, turning to Karl, she asked if his arm was damaged. Clayton had noticed Karl rubbing his wrist, but he didn’t think anything of it.

  “It hurts a little,” Karl answered and explained that he had fallen and sprained his wrist when they were made smaller. MarJoReAn asked him to replay the falling motion he’d experienced when he sprained his wrist, but to do it in slow motion. Then she instructed Karl to lightly touch the branch with his hand as the end of the replay.

  When he finished, he quickly exclaimed, “Ow! It hurts worse!”

  “Yes, it will hurt briefly. But your wrist will heal faster because your mind’s healing energy is no longer avoiding the area.” She asked Karl to repeat the same motion several more times.

  Finally, MarJoReAn took Karl’s hand in hers and gently rubbed his fingers.

  “Going through the motions forced your mental energy, which contains natural healing thoughts, to go to the damage site it was avoiding. It also caused your cells to realize the damaging force was over. I’m touching a part of you that’s further from your brain than the damage point, which means I’m causing your mental energy to go beyond the damage point it was shunning. All functions will quickly return to normal, and your wrist can go back to doing its job,” she concluded as she released Karl’s hand.

  As he gently shook his wrist, his face broke into a smile. “Thank you! It barely hurts at all!” he said, astonished. “How do you know these things?”

  “We have a lot of time to sit around and observe.” Turning to her daughter, she said, “Your father and I are going to visit with friends. Take good care of your humans.”

  “I will, Mother,” SeeLee assured her, as if she didn’t need to be reminded. She then gave her parents brief hugs.

  After saying goodbye to the group, MarJoReAn turned and rose into the air, unfolding her wings as she ascended. Much like her clothing, green and gold fountains of color exploded where the wings attached. Gold spread to mid-wing, and glistening trails of green and gold floated to the wings’ edges on a satiny, mint-green background. Sparkles burst along the way, creating a fireworks starburst of many different colors. When

  MarJoReAn’s wings moved, a sparkling rainbow fell from them. Her wings were more mesmerizing than any the humans had seen before. Clayton noticed that all fairies stopped what they were doing to stare at MarJoReAn when her wings were fully spread. What a marvelous sight!

  Rising into the air, she looked at the children and said, “Be happy and well until we meet again.” Turning, she joined SanArEnDar. They both extended their wings and rose into the air, leaving her rainbow sparkled trail next to his gold one. Everyone watched until they were lost in the branches above. As suddenly as the fairies stopped their activities to stare at MarJoReAn, they resumed them when she was gone.

  “Wow! Your mother is really beautiful,” Penny finally said after recovering from what she had just seen.

  “Thank you. She’s some of my best work,” SeeLee joked as if taking credit. “She would probably dress in rags if I didn’t make beautiful clothing for her.”

  “Is she the Queen of the Fairies?” Karl asked.

  “Something like that I guess. My father calls her the ‘world’s most wonderful life form.’”

  Again, the group’s attention was brought back to the fairy activity on their branch. Still more fairies ventured out of the tree, and more lights shone through the little windows. Clayton wanted to see everything the fairies were doing, but his sense of responsibility and nagging feelings of guilt prompted him to say, “We have to go. I have to get Penny home.”

  “Oh,” Penny complained, “can’t we stay?”

  “No, but we can come back if we don’t get in trouble for staying out too late tonight,” Clayton promised her. “We have school tomorrow. Remember the world we live in?”

  “I wish we could live here,” Penny pouted.

  The others agreed, but they also agreed with Clayton. They all were a little worried about transforming back to their natural size.

  After saying goodbye to their new friends, the seven marched behind SeeLee. Clayton looked at the crowds of fairies they would have to wade through to reach the end of the branch. He tightly clasped Penny’s hand so they wouldn’t be separated. The trip to the end of the branch didn’t take long, and they were soon at the benches they’d first sat upon.

  When SeeLee neared the end of the fairies’ sphere of thought influence, she said her goodbyes to the humans and gave Penny a hug. After inviting the adventurers to visit again, she gave last minute instructions for leaving the fairy world. She told them to race toward the firefly cluster at the end of the branch. SeeLee assured them that the fireflies would part for their passing, and reminded them about running deeper into the field to avoid collisions.

  And then the kids ran, one by one, each disappearing into the firefly cluster as they rushed back to their world.

  Terrible Danger

  Running in the field felt wonderful. It was a cure for legs released from uncertain footings, and brought freedom as if unleashed from uncertain boundaries. Clayton raced well past what would have been a safe distance from the others, as each took running leaps off the fairies’ branch.

  When he stopped, he remembered that he wanted to see what the others looked like as they returned to their larger selves. But it was too late. Instead, he saw Penny running through the field toward him, with Ron, Brian, and Phil following close behind. He watched as the fireflies ushered the humans to their reality. He stepped to the side, hoping to catch one of his friends as they grew larger, but Karl and Paul were already running in the field behind the others. Next time he would make it a priority to watch for the others and note how they morphed in size.

  He tried to figure out the sensations he felt as he returned to normalcy. He clearly remembered running down the branch while still being very small. He gained speed quickly, then wished he hadn’t run so hard since the fireflies couldn’t get out of his way fast enough.

  He remembered putting his arms out, but it was too late to brush the hundreds of fireflies away, so he quickly closed his eyes as his face barged into the ball they’d formed. He could feel the fireflies swarming on his face, and hands, and in his hair. Before tightly shutting his eyes, Clayton saw that the closer he got to the fireflies, the larger they appeared to be, until strangely, they grew smaller again. As he ran the next few steps, he sensed he had left the cluster far behind.

  When he opened his eyes, he remembered seeing the last of the fireflies jumping off his arms and felt them fly from his face. He knew for sure the size change had happened while he was distracted by the firefly cluster, but there was no sensation of change as it was happening. He just felt like himself.

  When his friends knew they were safe, the others stopped running and joined him. For a long moment, they all stared at each other, feeling collectively odd, not really knowing what to say.

  “Well, that was different,” Brian remarked to Paul.

  Karl looked over at the western sky. He suddenly cried out as he jumped up and down. “Yes! I knew it was a time warp. We must have been on the branch at least an hour, but look west; there’s still twilight left!”

  “So you think because you got smaller, the seconds got bigger?” Brian joked.

  “I didn’t look at the sun before we were transported onto the fairy tree,” Ron said, “but it only felt like a half hour to me. Isn’t the size warp enough? Do you really need a time warp, too? I think you’re suffering from fairy shock.”

  “It felt more like an hour to me,” Penny insisted with a happy lilt in her voice.

  “Well, next time I’m bringing two watches. I’ll wear one and leave the other on the ground. There isn�
�t any fairy shock,” Karl said confidently.

  “I’ve got fairy shock,” Brian corrected him.

  “Me too,” Paul agreed.

  The rest looked at the two boys and were once again glad they understood fairies existed before becoming as small as one of the creatures.

  They looked back at the fairy tree and the sea of frolicking fireflies bunching at the gathered cluster. Beyond it, SeeLee was probably playing with her friends.

  “We better head for home. Hopefully, we’ll beat Mom and Dad. We’re lucky they went out tonight, or you probably wouldn’t be here, Penny,” Clayton said, emphasizing this could be serious.

  “You better not come here again without me!”

  After giving his little sister a “good luck with that” look, Clayton said to everyone in general, but two in particular, “There’s one sure way to cure fairy shock.” Then he started running across the field with Penny close behind. The absence of fireflies in their wake left a dark space that was quickly filled by the fireflies’ return. Then, also feeling the urge, the others started running.

  The run across the field was a wonderful release. Clouds of fireflies scattered out of their way, returning behind one runner, only to be scattered again by the next. The kids felt they could run all the way home, but stopped before the woods at the field’s edge. They turned for one last look across the firefly-covered field. They could see the brighter spot of the gathering, and the faint glimpses of the strange colors they now understood so well. Clayton turned and walked into the woods as the others reluctantly followed.

  He instructed everyone to be quiet and to keep their flashlights pointed down. He reminded them about Mike who might still be lurking around. With lights pointed down, the group quietly strung out along the trail behind their leader. Being quiet worked quite well until they came to the part of the trail that was covered with branches and leaves. As they crossed, they sounded like a herd of raccoons. Once gathered on the other side, they stopped to rest and immediately broke into fits of uncontrollable laughter, followed by loud choruses of shushing as they tried to quiet each other.