Read Firefly Beach for Free Online Page B

the bed and breakfast just before dawn. Hopefully, Mary would be busy with her new guests and not notice her. Beth needed to focus when she worked, and she did not wish to be hustled in for breakfast with a group of strangers. She made a mental note to excuse herself if invited.
    * * * *
    Later that evening, an exhausted Beth took a long, hot shower. She pulled on her pajamas and prepared to get into bed. As she passed her window, she saw a shimmer of light near the cliff. The firefly.
    Beth’s stomach turned over. “Oh no you don’t,” she said, trying to sound courageous.
    Grateful that she had not yet taken down the old curtains for a trip to the cleaners, she quickly crossed the room to pull them shut. As she reached up to grab the left curtain, the firefly flew swiftly toward her and stopped less than a foot from the window. Beth’s hand froze. She was terrified, yet fascinated.
    “What are you?” she whispered.
    As if in response, the firefly swooped and danced. After a moment, it began to repeat a pattern – up to the window slowly, followed by a swift lunge down toward the large boulder near the edge of the forest. Over and over again it dove, as if beckoning Beth.
    “No!” Beth said firmly, and she drew the curtains closed violently. Unfortunately, they were several inches too short to cover the windows. “Damn.” Beth shivered as a deep chill went through her body. She grabbed her large blue sweatshirt and climbed into bed, leaving her three-way bedside lamp on its lowest setting of twenty-five watts. For a long time, she stared at the ceiling. She pulled the comforter way up to her chin and grasped it like a security blanket. She glanced at the clock every now and again – 11:16 p.m., 12:01 a.m., 12:48 a.m., and 1:19 a.m. Sometime between 1:30 and 2:00, she fell asleep.
    She was beset by disturbing dreams; rapid firing images flashed before her eyes – a car screeching down a country road, a yellow duck, her father’s face. She awoke with a start. Why am I dreaming about my father after all of these years? Don’t haunt me now, Dad, not when I am alone and feeling insecure. She opened her eyes, intending to get up and grab a drink of water. The firefly hovered two feet from her face. She screamed with her full lung capacity for a full thirty seconds.
    The firefly backed up quickly into the corner of the room near the ceiling.
    Beth breathed deeply, her heart racing. She pulled herself out of her bed, absentmindedly clutching the comforter to her chest, and she bravely walked toward the floating ball of light. Slowly, the firefly descended to Beth’s eye level. She stared at the curious object, which no longer looked anything like a firefly. It was round, the size of a large marble, and it was pure light – no wings, no legs, no eyes – just a tiny ball of light.
    Beth dropped the comforter to the floor and cautiously lifted her hands to cradle the light creature. She cupped her hands and raised them to within a few inches of the ball of light. Before she could blink, it zoomed straight at the window and through the pane, as if there were no glass. It swooped down by the boulder and hovered.
    Beth clutched the curtains and peered out. She shuddered. The “firefly” seemed to be summoning her. Curiosity overcame her fear. She slipped off her pajama bottoms and tugged on a pair of loose, faded gardening jeans. Still wearing the blue sweatshirt, she hurried down the stairs and out the back door.
    The light creature remained at the edge of the forest, waiting for her. When she appeared, the creature leapt and twirled joyfully. Then, as Beth approached, it flew north and disappeared in the woods. Beth followed. She slipped on mossy rocks and almost tripped over a fallen branch. She grabbed a tree to catch her balance. Dawn approached, but in the woods, it was dark except for the light of the firefly. Every once and a while, the creature stopped, as if to make sure that Beth was keeping up. They worked