Status: one-shot. story completed.
Not For Long, My Dear Child.
Fireflies
I get a thousand hugs from ten thousand lightning bugs, as they try to teach my how to dance..
“Would you turn that radio off!? It’s about all I can take of that song!”
“No! It’s my favorite song!”
“Just turn it off and come into the living room and grab this bag, will you?”
“Fine. I turned it off. Ok, now that I have your precious bag, what do I do with it?”
“For starters, don’t let your mother see it!”
“Aunty Likily, what are you planning this time? I roll my eyes at you!”
“Haha, you silly child, Melinda, you. Take it upstairs, I’ll explain it when you hide that thing!”
“What’s inside of it? Gasp! A jar full of lightning bugs! You know she loves those, she hasn’t seen one since she was four years old!”
“That’s why it’s so special, you can’t let her see! It’s her fortieth birthday, very important, don’t ruin it now!”
“Ok, I’ll hide it under the bed.”
~~~~~~~~~~
“Mommy?”
“Mellie…?”
“There’s one more special present… From Aunty Likily.”
“Mellie….you know Likily died twenty years ago.”
“No! She hasn’t. She’s alive, and she told me to give you this.”
“…..Mellie, how did you know a jar of lightning bugs would be important to me?”
“Aunty told me.”
“…Honey…Uh,…well….How do you know?”
“…Uh, I saw her speak the words to me, maybe? Heh. Why don’t you believe me? Oh, it’s because your sister is dead to you, and you think that means she’s dead. You know better than to take a phrase like that literally.”
“Mellie! You know better than to talk to me like that! You went to her funeral, don’t play it like I’m the crazy one!”
“You sayin’ I’m crazy?”
“Mellie….”
“Stop calling me Mellie! Jennifer, my name is Melinda.”
“Mellie..Melinda, you’re acting way out of line. What is wrong with you?”
“Jennifer-“
“Melinda May! Stop calling me Jennifer! My name is mother, or any variety of the similar to you, young lady.”
“You’re not my mother.”
“You’re right! I’m a random stranger that just gave birth to you! Melinda May Sim, what on earth is wrong with you? Hey!- where do you think you’re going?”
“Goodbye, Jennifer Elizabeth Jones!”
“Don’t you dare call me by my maiden name, you ungrateful child! And you better not slam that door!”
The door shut with a slam as loud as Big Foot stomping on the ground.
~~~~~~~~~~
“I can’t go on…. I’m so cold…..”
“Aunty Likily, you have to keep going, you’re not stopping here, we’re so close.”
“I stop here.”
“Likily! You’re just complaining, I know it’s cold, but you have a heavy jacket!”
“Yours is heavier.”
“Here, take mine, I’ll take yours.”
“Thank you.”
“Hey, I don’t even need a jacket, it’s like, what? Seventy degrees? I knew you were lying about being cold. Ha ha ha ha ha, Likily you look like you’re having a seizure. It’s not even cold, calm down. Likily? Likily!?”
~~~~~~~~~~
She woke up after three hours of being “dead”, and it scared the crap out of me.
“Likily! You’re alive!” I was breathless, but I rushed to her side, knelt in the snow and rested her head on my thighs.
“Not for long, my dear child.” she coughed out. Her warm breath swarmed around my face. Then it stopped.
“Likily! No!” I screamed and held her up to my face, and I sobbed into her heavier jacket.
It was then when I realized that my mother was right. Aunt Likily was really dead. Not just at that moment, but she had been dead for twenty years.
I all came back, hitting my in the stomach, I ran to the nearest tree and puked up mother’s birthday ham. When I turned around Aunt Likily was no longer there, for she had never been.
I remembered it all. Everything.
~~~~~~~~~~
It was a warm summer day. I had just gotten out of the swimming pool. The comforting heat that my skin welcomed added to the festivities of my mother’s birthday. She was turning twenty-four, I was just nine then. Too young to have done what I did.
Take into consideration, I was no normal child. I had schizophrenia. I know this doesn’t excuse what I did, but Laura was so convincing. Likily was freaking out. The caterer wasn’t there yet. The presents I, Laura, and Lizzy got Mother weren’t wrapped, even though Likily told us to wrap them twenty-seven times. We really wanted to get in the pool already, but Aunty was nagging me to wrap, wrap, wrap. I mean, Mother wasn’t coming until five, that’s when her shift let out. Can’t a person get a break? I mean, we were blowing balloons for two hours straight, and I had a headache, I really just wanted to relax in the pool. And Aunt Likily was getting on our nerves.
I don’t know if anyone heard her muffled screams as I grasped her neck and jumped into the pool. Laura said no one was around, so either she didn’t see Mother come, or she was lying to me, but Mother saw everything.
So I had to get rid of her, too.
~~~~~~~~~~
Melinda was sitting in the corner of the abandoned (or so it seemed) house, with the pool in the backyard. It had been drained for thirty-seven years, ever since the murder. Melinda was alone. Melinda had been alone for twenty years, sitting in the corner.
The only sound to be heard were millions of fireflies buzzing around.
The room was bright with lights from the rear ends of lightning bugs.
They haunt her.
They haunt her.
The twenty-year silence was broken with one line from Melinda herself:
“I get a thousand hugs from ten thousand lightning bugs, as they try to teach me how to dance.”
“Would you turn that radio off!? It’s about all I can take of that song!”
“No! It’s my favorite song!”
“Just turn it off and come into the living room and grab this bag, will you?”
“Fine. I turned it off. Ok, now that I have your precious bag, what do I do with it?”
“For starters, don’t let your mother see it!”
“Aunty Likily, what are you planning this time? I roll my eyes at you!”
“Haha, you silly child, Melinda, you. Take it upstairs, I’ll explain it when you hide that thing!”
“What’s inside of it? Gasp! A jar full of lightning bugs! You know she loves those, she hasn’t seen one since she was four years old!”
“That’s why it’s so special, you can’t let her see! It’s her fortieth birthday, very important, don’t ruin it now!”
“Ok, I’ll hide it under the bed.”
~~~~~~~~~~
“Mommy?”
“Mellie…?”
“There’s one more special present… From Aunty Likily.”
“Mellie….you know Likily died twenty years ago.”
“No! She hasn’t. She’s alive, and she told me to give you this.”
“…..Mellie, how did you know a jar of lightning bugs would be important to me?”
“Aunty told me.”
“…Honey…Uh,…well….How do you know?”
“…Uh, I saw her speak the words to me, maybe? Heh. Why don’t you believe me? Oh, it’s because your sister is dead to you, and you think that means she’s dead. You know better than to take a phrase like that literally.”
“Mellie! You know better than to talk to me like that! You went to her funeral, don’t play it like I’m the crazy one!”
“You sayin’ I’m crazy?”
“Mellie….”
“Stop calling me Mellie! Jennifer, my name is Melinda.”
“Mellie..Melinda, you’re acting way out of line. What is wrong with you?”
“Jennifer-“
“Melinda May! Stop calling me Jennifer! My name is mother, or any variety of the similar to you, young lady.”
“You’re not my mother.”
“You’re right! I’m a random stranger that just gave birth to you! Melinda May Sim, what on earth is wrong with you? Hey!- where do you think you’re going?”
“Goodbye, Jennifer Elizabeth Jones!”
“Don’t you dare call me by my maiden name, you ungrateful child! And you better not slam that door!”
The door shut with a slam as loud as Big Foot stomping on the ground.
~~~~~~~~~~
“I can’t go on…. I’m so cold…..”
“Aunty Likily, you have to keep going, you’re not stopping here, we’re so close.”
“I stop here.”
“Likily! You’re just complaining, I know it’s cold, but you have a heavy jacket!”
“Yours is heavier.”
“Here, take mine, I’ll take yours.”
“Thank you.”
“Hey, I don’t even need a jacket, it’s like, what? Seventy degrees? I knew you were lying about being cold. Ha ha ha ha ha, Likily you look like you’re having a seizure. It’s not even cold, calm down. Likily? Likily!?”
~~~~~~~~~~
She woke up after three hours of being “dead”, and it scared the crap out of me.
“Likily! You’re alive!” I was breathless, but I rushed to her side, knelt in the snow and rested her head on my thighs.
“Not for long, my dear child.” she coughed out. Her warm breath swarmed around my face. Then it stopped.
“Likily! No!” I screamed and held her up to my face, and I sobbed into her heavier jacket.
It was then when I realized that my mother was right. Aunt Likily was really dead. Not just at that moment, but she had been dead for twenty years.
I all came back, hitting my in the stomach, I ran to the nearest tree and puked up mother’s birthday ham. When I turned around Aunt Likily was no longer there, for she had never been.
I remembered it all. Everything.
~~~~~~~~~~
It was a warm summer day. I had just gotten out of the swimming pool. The comforting heat that my skin welcomed added to the festivities of my mother’s birthday. She was turning twenty-four, I was just nine then. Too young to have done what I did.
Take into consideration, I was no normal child. I had schizophrenia. I know this doesn’t excuse what I did, but Laura was so convincing. Likily was freaking out. The caterer wasn’t there yet. The presents I, Laura, and Lizzy got Mother weren’t wrapped, even though Likily told us to wrap them twenty-seven times. We really wanted to get in the pool already, but Aunty was nagging me to wrap, wrap, wrap. I mean, Mother wasn’t coming until five, that’s when her shift let out. Can’t a person get a break? I mean, we were blowing balloons for two hours straight, and I had a headache, I really just wanted to relax in the pool. And Aunt Likily was getting on our nerves.
I don’t know if anyone heard her muffled screams as I grasped her neck and jumped into the pool. Laura said no one was around, so either she didn’t see Mother come, or she was lying to me, but Mother saw everything.
So I had to get rid of her, too.
~~~~~~~~~~
Melinda was sitting in the corner of the abandoned (or so it seemed) house, with the pool in the backyard. It had been drained for thirty-seven years, ever since the murder. Melinda was alone. Melinda had been alone for twenty years, sitting in the corner.
The only sound to be heard were millions of fireflies buzzing around.
The room was bright with lights from the rear ends of lightning bugs.
They haunt her.
They haunt her.
The twenty-year silence was broken with one line from Melinda herself:
“I get a thousand hugs from ten thousand lightning bugs, as they try to teach me how to dance.”
♠ ♠ ♠
yayyy