Flash Fiction

The night was not an unusually dark one for a mountain cabin in the summer of North Carolina. The darkness was no more oppressive than it had ever been, yet Jamie was still scared. Tucked in bed, she was afraid to even more for fear some monster would snatch her up if she did so. She tried to talk herself out of the fear. She knew that if she turned on the light the room would be the same as it always was, but she was too frightened to even reach for the lamp. She reminded herself that she was a big girl. Six was far too old to be afraid of the dark. Jamie was not a baby. But she couldn’t shake the blanketing fear that covered her in a cold sweat.

Suddenly she heard a creaking noise and she bolted out of bed. As fast as her terrified feet would carry her, Jamie ran to her older sister Cady’s room and frantically leapt into her bed. “Cady! Cady! Wake up!” Jamie cried.

Cady gasped at the unexpected awakening. When she realized that she was in no danger, she enveloped Jamie in a bear hug to stop her from thrashing. “Calm down, Jamie! What happened?” she whispered.

“It’s too dark!” Jamie sniffled. “Can I sleep with you?”

“It’s just as dark in here as it is in your room,” Cady pointed out. Although she was right, she had overlooked the larger problem (as twelve-year-olds sometimes do.) Where was Jamie going to sleep?

“But I’m scared,” Jamie whined.

Cady sighed, realizing that she was not going back to bed anytime soon. “Come downstairs and I’ll get you some milk.”

Cady took Jamie’s hand, and the two girls descended the stairs. They went into the kitchen and Jamie took a seat on a barstool, her feet hanging several inches off the floor. Cady poured a glass of milk, only spilling a little bit and handed it to Jamie. “You’ll be okay,” Cady said, stroking her sister’s hair. Jamie just nodded, gulping the milk. She held on to the glass with her two small hands, her fingers barely meeting each other. “Do you want me to check your room? Would that make you feel better?”

Instead of answering, Jamie set the glass down and slit off the stool. Wordlessly, she crept to the door that led to the screen porch. She looked up at Cady who opened it for her. Jamie waked onto the screen porch and gazed out over the mountains. “Look,” she breathed, pointing.

Cady scanned the mountaintops, but saw nothing remarkable. “What is it?” she asked her sister?

“Lights,” Jamie murmured. And so they were. Hundreds of fireflies hovered in the air.

Cady’s eyes adjusted to the dimness, and she saw them too. “Fireflies,” she said, her face breaking into a grin.

“Flies?” Jamie asked. “Like a bug?”

“Yes,” Cady answered. “They’re bugs.”

“But they’re too pretty,” Jamie insisted. “They can’t be bugs.”

“Silly girl,” Cady smiled. “They’re just bugs that light up.”

“No,” Jamie said. “They must be magic.”

Cady laughed. “Okay, Jamie. Whatever you say.”

Jamie sat down on the floor, her wide eyes still fixed on the fireflies. Cady sat down next to her, and stroked her hair. Soon Jamie’s head was in Cady’s lap. Both Cady’s strokes of Jamie’s hair and Jamie’s breathing became more slow and regular. When Cady looked back down at her sister, she saw that she had fallen asleep. “You’re right, Jamie. It must be magic,” she whispered. And the girls remained that way all night.