1 moon....2 moons

Celena walked out on the balcony and closed the door behind her. This is the place she loves the most in the house. She placed the coffee cup on the flat edge and sat facing the half set sun. You can see a stretch of the city from the balcony on the 16^th floor. Celena could see the children playing in the garden of a house, a woman was picking up clothes from the terrace, and buses and vehicles were slowly inching towards their destination like clueless ants. Today is 20^th May, 2015. Exactly 3 months back they had come to Kolkata, and in these few months she has become quite fond of the city. When her husband Michel told her that they have to move from Marseille to Kolkata, she was apprehensive. She knew Michael’s job involved fair amount of traveling, but going so far away from home made her uneasy. But Kolkata has been a pleasant experience so far. She heard the distant jingle of a hand-pulled rickshaw and let the sound toss and turn in her mind for a while.

The street lamps came up covering the city streets in a monochromatic haze. It is getting dark now, but Celena didn’t switch on the lights. She let the darkness settle cozily around her and looked up at the twinkling stars. Everything seemed so unhurried and at ease, as if this moment had taken place before and is just repeating itself with practiced grace. Celena watched the stars sprinkled across the dark sky like magic dust. She followed the trail of the stars till she caught a glimpse of the moon. And that is when she saw it! So lost was she in admiring the moon, that at first Celena didn’t even realise what she is seeing. But then she drew a sharp breath and straightened. 

‘Is this even possible?’ She thought aloud. 

‘Is that another moon in the sky?’ 

Just few footsteps away from the real moon, she saw another moon. “This must be a hallucination, or I must be going mad.” She paced across the balcony, removed her glasses, cleaned them and wore them back. But once again she saw it, and this time more clearly. There were 2 moons on the sky. 

Just then she heard a click at the door. Michael was back from work. Celena picked up her cup and hurried back inside. Before closing the door she threw a last glance at the sky and winced. The rest of the evening went as usual. They had an early supper and sat together, Michael poured over his crossword puzzle, while Celena curled up with her book. But her mind was still dwelling on what she saw earlier in the evening. She cannot disbelieve her own eyes, she saw it three times, but how can she believe what she saw? She wanted to tell Michael, but did not know how to say it. She can’t say, “I saw two moons today.” That sounded so lame in her own head, she wondered how he will react on hearing it. She fidgeted around, but couldn’t tell him. Before going to bed, she slipped out into the balcony. She stood there unsure of herself, and finally gathered the courage and looked up. What she saw overwhelmed her. The sky was lit by a warm orange glow, and in the centre of the halo she saw the two moons like long lost lovers snuggled against one another. They strangely complimented each other through their duality, kind of yin and yang. Celena rested her head on her palms and gazed at the moons.  A feeling of serenity washed over her, filling her eyes with unsuspecting tears. She didn’t stop them, she let them flow freely down her cheek.  She heard a click and turned her head. Michael walked into the balcony. He came and stood next to her and wrapped his hand around her shoulders. Celena stiffened, can he see it too? The two moons? But Michael looked unaffected. He stared into the vast sky and inhaled deeply. 

“It is a beautiful night.” He kissed her on top of her head. Celena lowered her face on his chest and snuggled in. She felt strangely glad that her husband couldn’t see the second moon. That way it stays as her little secret. She closed her eyes and smiled a deep smile, her lips curving in the shape of the topaz moon.

**************

Celena woke up with a start. The soft morning rays, jostled their way into the room through the half-shut blinds. ‘Was it all a dream?’ was the first thought that crossed her mind. She grabbed her glasses and walked to the window. The air outside was crisp and fresh. She heard the lilting chatter of the birds. Everything seemed normal and usual, and to her greatest relief she saw only one sun in the morning sky.  But last night was definitely not a dream. She changed into her running clothes, kissed her sleeping husband and left for her morning jog. While turning around the corner of the street, the soulful rendition of harmonium floated towards her, accompanied by the sound of a child’s singing. Somewhere in the house a little girl was doing her morning riyaz. The cities deep-rooted romance with its rich culture is something that continually fascinates Celena. She slowed her pace and listened to the little girl’s sleep-ridden voice. 

After Michael left for office that day, she searched on web about any recorded phenomenon on two moons. But there was no record of anyone seeing two moons on the night sky. She also spoke to one of her friend from Johannesburg who is a resident astronomer at one of the leading star-gazing site of the city. He told her that he has never come across anyone who has seen more than one moon in the skyline. However, there has been instances of people spotting two moons through a small telescope, but that was due to lens flare or reflection in telescope. If the telescope is a reflector, then it could be a collimation error, i.e. the primary mirror is not properly aligned with other parts, leading to multiple paths of light forming multiple images. But none of this was making any sense to Celena. She didn’t see the moon through a telescope, so there was no chance of reflection error.  As the day waned into dusk, Celena kept pacing across the room and nervously looking through the window.  She could hear the mothers calling for their kids, who were engrossed in their hopscotch, hide and seek or three-legged races. Finally the street lamps came up and Celena walked over to the balcony. She kept the lights off and looked up at the sky. Soft velvety clouds covered the sky and she could almost feel them close around her, as if comforting her in her time of distress. After what felt like an eternity the clouds cleared and Celena gasped. 

A single silvery full moon adorned the night sky.

**************

 “If Heathcliff and Catherine were soul mates then why did Ms Bronte made no effort in bringing them together.” Celena asked the question while carefully adjusting the leather bound books in the shelf at the old bookstore - Books Old & Older. This shop is run by an expat Mr Collingwood, whose family had settled in India during the early 1900s. Mr Collingwood is a true bibliophile and has dedicated his life in collecting rare and uncommon books. His store in College Street, Kolkata’s oldest book para (locality), is the only place in the city to sell original editions of rare books. Celena is a regular to his shop, and has lately started helping the octogenarian with cataloging and organising the books.

“Well soul mates have bigger purpose than just being together for one life.” Mr Collingwood said, while passing on another book to Celena. “Some believe that soul mates are united in more than one life. But even if they are not physically together, you can sometimes feel your soul mate’s presence around you. As the soul can transcend physical and material boundaries, so true soul mates can connect across ages and geographies.” 

Celena quietly listened to the humming sound of the rusted ceiling fan. “But how do we know we have soul mates?”

Mr Collingwood smiled his wrinkled smile, “The universe sends us signs my dear. You need to be careful young lady, there might be a sign lying just around the book shelf.” The old man’s piercing blue eyes twinkled like the sun-kissed sea.

Celena looked at the watch, it was quarter to three. She can stay back another hour. Spending time amidst the old books makes her happy. She kept thinking about what Mr Collingwood told her while arranging the old volumes in the topmost shelf carefully. How does the universe give us signs? Then was the moon a sign from the universe? Though it had been a fortnight since she had seen the two moons, Celena cannot stop thinking about it every second of every day. Why did she see it? And why can’t she see it anymore? All these unanswered questions made her heart heavy with grief. If only there was someone with whom she could share everything, someone who would understand her....a soul mate. 

As she was about to step down the ladder, her eyes fell on a yellow envelope lying at the far end of the book shelf. A fine layer of dust has gathered on the envelope. Someone must have kept it here by mistake, she thought. She picked up the envelope and carried it down. Celena walked towards the window with the envelope. The orange glow of the setting sun made the dust look like a trail of pixie dust. She wiped the envelope with her hand and looked for some address or name, but there was nothing written. She reached inside the envelope and brought out a book. It was a hard-bound first edition of Gitanjali - a collection of poems by Rabindranath Tagore. The book had not been opened for a while, and as she flipped over the cover, a swirl of dust slowly curled up like wisps of dream. Very carefully she turned the pages over. The pages had a rusty red hue and smelled of stars. On the cover page was written a quote in a flourishing hand writing:

"Whatever our souls are made of, ‘yours’ and mine are the same"

Just as she was about to close the book, a page fell out of it. It was a lose paper on which someone had drawn. Over time the drawing has faded in places. Celena looked at the drawing closely. What she saw sent shivers down her spine. It was a sketch of a village path on a starry night, with cotton ball like clouds floating around two moons! She clutched the paper tightly and looked more closely. Something was scribbled at the right hand bottom corner of the paper. On examining closely, she saw a date, 20^th May 1905.

And below it there was a line:

“Someday you will see it too, and that day I will be with you.” ~ SS

***The End***

The Cloud Girl

She keeps the cloud in a jar.

The jar is with her all through the day. When she sleeps, the jar is kept right next to her bed.While eating the jar sits pretty beside her cereal box. Even when she steps outside, the jar is safely placed inside her grey backpack. No one has ever seen her without her grey backpack.While her flesh and blood self is her ‘here’, the jar within her backpack is her ‘there’. She clings so dearly to her backpack maybe because her ‘here’ does not exist without her ‘there’.

It was a pleasant day. She parked her bike at her usual spot, and carefully manoeuvred her way through the freshly sowed rice field, towards the tree. The birds no longer flew away seeing her come, she is now one of them. She carefully lifted the veil of the thick foliage and stepped inside. The familiar musty smell of the mossy bark welcomed her and she felt at home. She sat there for a while, her back resting on the thick bark of the tree. Hundreds of Asian golden weavers made their nest on the tree. The nests neatly made, hung upside down. If seen from a distance one can hardly see any leaves on the tree, as they are all hidden behind these nests.

She opened the backpack and took out the jar. She lifted it carefully and stared at it. The fat, fluffy cloud was resting peacefully inside, waiting patiently to come out and fly...just like her. She placed her hand ever so gently on the lid, and waited. Her heart was racing, like every other time. She unscrewed the lid, gently pulled out a fluff of cloud and placed it on her palm. Her heart still racing, she closed her eyes, 1...2....3 and there was a massive jolt as she felt herself being pushed down a rocky cliff, her body hitting the rocks and being broken into microscopic pieces. The excruciating pain blinded her and she could hear herself scream her lungs out. And like every other time, just when she thought she will hit the solid rock bottom, a gush of wind picked her up like some strewn leaf and hurled her towards the limitless sky. The wind was soo strong she could feel the parts of her body ripping apart and being scattered in all direction. And then she saw it, the sparkling rainbow filling the sky with its splendor. She knew that the pain is over...that she has reached. Flopped on a chunky fluff of cloud she looked around and absorbed the tranquility of this world. Now she is ready...ready to change yet another child’s dream, to bring smile on their innocent sleeping faces.

Yes, she is the ordinary next-door girl who rides on her cloud and enters into the dreamland of little children and turns their dream into happy places. Like, if there is a frightening fire-spitting dragon ready to scare a little one in his dream, she walks in and changes the deadly dragon to a cuddly wide-eyed puppy and brings a smile on the face of the sleeping child.

Roya (Persian word for Dream) was 3 days old, when her parents abandoned her inside the city planetarium. She often wonders what prompted them to the choice of place. The sky, clouds and stars had protected her ever since. They had been her family. She grew up in an orphanage where Sister Martha had been very kind to her and the other girls. On Roya’s 14th birthday she woke up and found the jar with clouds at her bedside. Since then her secret rides on cloud has begun.

Today Roya steps into the dream of 4 year old baby girl, Shy. Her dreamland is a bright sunny park with gleaming rainbow and daisies. Happy birds are chirping all around and colourful deers and peacocks are playing near the waterfall. But just as she looked behind, she saw a writhing, spiteful huge snake uncoiling its fang. Roya quickly pointed her finger towards the venomous giant and whispered:

Dream is beautiful

Dream is pure

Let the little girl sleep safe and sure

The snake immediately turned into a twirly garland of daisies and little Shy slept with not a single wrinkle on her forehead. There were couple of more dragons to slay and hooded witches to turn into cherubic angels. Then Roya climbed back on her cloud and after a rocky journey of falling and rising, returned back to the mossy ground of her real world.

She took the cloud and carefully placed it back inside the jar and tightened the lid. She then placed the jar inside her backpack and stepped outside the foliage into the field. The sun is like a disc of gold, settling cosily between the two far-away mountains. Roya looked up at the sky where a fat, fluffy cloud is sailing lazily and wondered how long will she keep looking for her dream while traveling into the dreams of others. 

When will she get to have a dream of her own.

--- The End ---

Afterglow

Chapter 2:

When she opens her eyes, she finds herself in a warm place. As her eyes get adjusted to the dim surrounding she figured out that it is a dingy hole on a tree trunk. The early light of the sun trickled through the small hole. Aglow tries to get up, but her head and arms feel like they will explode with the slightest movement. She battles the pain and stands on her feet. As she inched towards the opening, the strong smell of almond greeted her nose. She closed her eyes and felt her stomach growl. How long has she been starving?

“10 hours”, a voice echoed. 

The voice startled Aglow soo much she almost tripped. She swirled around and was facing a pair of eyes the colour of almond. 

“Who…who are you?” she stammered.

“The bug whose bed you were sleeping on”, he replied with a smirk.

Aglow has always been within her own herd and had never met anyone she doesn’t know. This wiry, tall, and slightly slouching firefly is a stranger, and she didn’t know what to say or do. But she cannot possibly stand there like a statue, so she managed to ask, ‘Who are you?’ and immediately cringed realizing she had already asked this few seconds back.

The bug came a step closer to Aglow. There was a hint of a smile on his lips while he handed her a small almond shell filled with some liquid. “Drink this”, he said. “This will help your pain go away”. 

To her wildest surprise, Aglow took the liquid from the complete stranger and drank it in one gulp. All the warnings she heard from her mother and the elders of the herd about not eating anything from strangers, flew straight out of the hole on the trunk. But something  about him felt strange. Aglow just couldn’t put a finger on what exactly that is. The sun slowly crept out of its slumber and is peeping through the clouds. She stepped towards the exit.

“Going out now is not a great idea. The beetle must be hiding somewhere around.”

The chase from last night came rushing back and Aglow sat down to steady herself. “I thought the bug got me. How did I end up here?”

“Well, he almost did get you. But just when he was about to pounce on you, you were lucky enough to fall on my trap net. Last evening was full moon night, and usually on full moon I prefer to star gaze. So while I was singing my favourite Celine Dion number and enjoying the moonlit sky, you fell straight out of the sky.  Once I realized you were unconscious, I put you on my roller-skate and got you to my bachelor pad.”

Aglow repeated the words ‘trap net’, ‘Celine Dion’, ‘roller skate’, ‘bachelor pad’ and stared blankly at him. 

He threw his hands in exasperation, “Were you born just yesterday?”

And then very slowly, as if explaining to a kid, he said, “ A ‘trap net’ is like a trap I have made using twigs, tendrils and spider web. I use it to trap smaller insects and eat them.  ‘Celine Dion’ is a famous singer, she has the voice of an angel. Haven’t you heard her? This is a ‘bachelor pad’ because I stay here alone. And ohh, ‘roller skate’ is like a piece of wooden board used b humans to move faster. I have seen it and devised a smaller version made out of almond shells. You wanna try a ride?”

Aglow, swallowed hard and said, “Why do you stay alone? What happened to your herd, to your family?”

At this point, the bug’s face tightened and he looked out of the cubby hole. “ I don’t have a herd”, his voice was a whisper. “I left them because I was tired of their routine, and I wanted to see the world. So I have learned the ways of life and I live on my own terms.”

For the first time in her life Aglow could hear her heart beat. She heard the rhythmic beat for a while and looked at the pair of almond eyes. The words she wanted to say kept echoing within the deepest recess of her heart, but she couldn’t say it aloud. Instead she heard herself say,”‘When you came in, how did you know I was thinking about when I had eaten last?”

He shrugged and said, “I could hear your stomach growl from across the lake. What else could you have been thinking about?”

She smiled, and he smiled back. And somewhere they both knew that this will not be the last time that he will understand her without she speaking a word.

The potion seems to have been working really well, as by afternoon Aglow could feel the strength coming back to her limbs, and the head was also hurting less. She slept for few more hours and woke up as the birds sleepily made their way home. The couple of times she woke up in the middle of the day, the den seemed quiet and she couldn’t see the bug around. Finally when the light outside started retreating into its cosy shell, the chattering of the birds stopped and she could hear a faint sound. It was a melodious tune. Aglow gingerly stepped out of the hole and tried locating the music. She slowly glided towards the highest branch of the chestnut tree and saw him playing a reed, his eyes closed and the half smile still hanging at the corner of his lips. She slowly sat beside him.

“This is my spot”, he said, “I come here when I’m happy, sad, hurting or excited.”

“Don’t you have friends?”, she asked.

He didn’t reply. His jaws tightened.

Aglow realized she must have stepped in sticky water and so she tried to distract him by talking about herself.”I have some friends too”, she said. “In fact last night I was trying to save one of them and landed in the Willowy grove.”  The image of the giant beetle chasing her clouded her mind again and she closed her eyes tight to get them out of her head.

“Ohh is it? But I never saw any glow-worm this side of the woods, except you. Where is your friend now?” he sounded concerned.

“I don’t know, once I took the turn at the far corner of the grove, I lost him. I was looking around for him when the beetle attacked me”, tears welled up in her eyes. She looked up at the sky and suddenly sat up straight. “But I can find out if he’s alright.”

“How will you do that?” he asked.

“Every night my friends fly up there, and I see them from my spot. Today if I can see him up there with his friends, I will know that he’s safe”.

“Is he not part of your herd?”, he asked

“Ohh no, he’s nothing like us. He’s bright, big and magical. He has this glowing red light and he soars so high up above us all”, her eyes turned dreamy thinking of all the nights she waved out to him.

“Red light???” he sounded surprised. “Fireflies do not have red light. Have you met him ever?”

“No I have not, but I will…soon. It is my secret wish and I will fulfill it at any cost. Will you…”. But before she could complete her sentence her eyes caught the light, an as she looked up, she could see him. There he was, flying in all his glory with his friends. Her heart leapt. She grabbed his hand and pointed up, “look..look there he is”.

As he looked up, his heart sank. He looked at her glowing face and his words failed him. His soul basked in the warmth of her gaze, though he knew that the warmth was for someone else. He placed his hand on hers and sat quietly.

“Will you take me to meet him”, her voice was small but hopeful. 

He looked away. “We should go back now.  You need to rest.”

He couldn’t sleep the whole night. He sat outside his cubby hole staring at her peaceful sleeping face. Whenever life threw him in a dilemma he always remembered his dad’s words ‘Do the right thing, son’. That is what he did when he left his herd to live his life. On many lonely nights, when he yearned for the warmth of his family, his father’s word gives him the strength, because he knows that he might be doing a hard thing, but it is the right thing. 

“Wake up sleepy head, we need to hustle.”

Aglow woke up and stretched her sleepy limbs. “Where are we going?”

“To meet your friend.” If only she could see his face now, she would know how pain looks like.

His words made her blood rush soo fast that she felt dizzy. She leapt with joy and hugged him tight. “Thank you…thank you….thank you….” She paused. “You never told me your name”, she added. 

He faced her and bowed a little, “I’m Ray, I add the glow on Aglow.”

They left early, as they had to cross the woods before sunset. It was a long flight, and they took stops, since Aglow has never flown so far. As they crossed the woods, they could see a big serene lake ahead. Around the lake there were mulberry bushes, and Ray signaled Aglow to move towards the bushes. They stopped to take a breather, and just when he sat on the soft, ripe fruit, he heard a deadly scream from the other side. He rushed immediately to see Aglow sitting with her eyes shut and shivering like a dry leaf.

“What is the matter? Are you ok?”

“I saw them…I saw them. They are so close.” Her teeth chattered. 

“Who are close? What are you saying?” He held her close so she can calm down.

“The humans”, she blurted out.

Ray looked up and saw some kids playing near the bushes. Their high-pitched voice filled the evening sky with mirth. “They re kids, they will do you no harm”.

“But Grandpa Bug always told us to stay away from humans. They will either kill us or capture us and put us in a jar”, hot tears rolled down her cheek.

He sighed, “well some humans do us harm, but not all of them. These are kids, they will not do us any harm. Here you are safe, I come here all the time. Here by the lake, the humans come for picnic. They listen to songs, play with their kids, eat food and have a nice time. You are safe here.”

She stopped crying and looked at him. “You come here alone?”

“Yes I do…ohh can you hear, they are playing my favourite song. Come with me, we will dance.” With these words he pulled her towards the row of pine trees. They landed on a soft branch, and Aglow could hear music around her. As she looked down, she saw a group of humans were standing and the music was coming from somewhere around them.

“Who is singing?” she asked puzzled.

“No one”, he smiled, “the music is being played from the music player. That big square thing on the table.”

Aglow was amazed. And before she could see more, Ray pulled her and started dancing. Their heads swayed, eyes met, hands circled, wings brushed and bodies got entwined with one another. It was the most magical moment of her life. She closed her eyes and said a quick prayer, so this moment can become a star in the sky and stay there forever. Even after they are gone.

It was well past midnight, when they reached a big open ground. Ray sat on a wall, and Aglow sat beside him.

“We are here,” he said.

She looked around, and asked, “What is this place?”

“You will see him soon.”

Silence settled around, and embraced them in a cosy hug. Aglow stared into the darkness and remembered all the nights she spent looking at him. Will she really meet him today? What will she say? How will she say? There were so many questions in her mind, that she almost missed his voice, when he said, “look ahead Aglow”.

Before she could see anything, a deafening noise cut through the silence of the night. A huge white monster was running past them. There were many lights blinking along its body. It ran for a while and then started flying, higher and higher, till it was almost invisible, except the blinking lights on its tail. 

“I don’t understand”, she said, “where is he?”

“Keep looking”, he whispered and held her hand.

Aglow looked back towards the direction of the flying monster. But nothing can be seen high above the sky except….

“Ohh…there he is! There he is”, she cried out. “But he’s still so far away. You said I can meet him…’ She stopped abruptly, and looked at Ray. Tears welled up in her eyes. “No, this can’t be true, please tell me this is not true. I don’t understand anything. You are playing a prank.”

Ray held her, “I’m sorry little one, but this is the truth. I knew when you showed me last night, but I wanted you to see with your own eyes. He is not a firefly. This big white monster you saw, is an airplane which carries humans from one place to another. When the airplanes fly at night they have these lights blinking on them, so other airplanes can mark them. The red blinking light, you saw every night is the light of an airplane.” His voice became hoarse as he stifled a sob. Seeing her in pain wrenched his heart, and he felt a sudden need to protect her forever.

Aglow felt numb, as if her whole world crashed around her. Is this why she left home, her family, her herd? What will she tell them, how will she go back home?

“Can you lose something you never had?” she asked.

Ray felt a sting pierce through his heart. “What did you lose?”

“A friend”, she replied

He held out his hand and smiled, “I don’t agree. I think you just made one”. 

--- The End ---

Afterglow

Chapter 1:

Soon after the first light of dusk dusted off the last trails of light from its grey coat and made way for the night fairy to take over earth, the swamp near the valley lit up with million small lights. If someone were to stand at the edge of the valley and look down, he could see the floating dots of glowing fire emerging out of the thicket and covering the marsh. Someone might think it to be trails of lighted pixie dust floating off a fairy’s magic wand, but these are actually fireflies who wander out at dark to light the night sky with their magical glow. 

Near this swamp at the edge of the forest a group of fireflies stay, and their leader is Grandpa Bug. Grandpa Bug is the only one in the herd to witness 2 full moons, and he has only one mission in life, and that is to keep his herd of fireflies safe and within the bound of the swamp land, so no one goes off wandering anywhere and is captured, killed or eaten by other bugs.

While everyone is happy and content leading this quiet and routine bug’s life, there is one tiny soul whose heart yearns for more. Aglow is the youngest and brightest firefly of the herd and she brings life and cheer to the family. She is chirpy, compassionate, caring and curious. While she loves her huge bug family, a part of her always wants to see the world beyond the musty swamp, and chase her little secret. She knows she doesn’t have much time. She will see her first full moon in about 7 days. Such thoughts make her heart feel heavy and she keeps herself from being sad by singing and dancing with her other glow-worm friends.  But the only time of the day when Aglow is happy and glowing is when the mysterious night fairy teases sun god and cajoles him to sleepily untangle his arms of light. The light banter between the night fairy and the sun god lasts for a short while and their laughter leaves a golden hue of twilight on the sky. Just when all the fireflies cozily retires in their leafy homes, Aglow glides up to the dewy foliage of the almond tree and looks up to the sky waiting for her friend to visit her. Almost every day he comes around the same time, with his group of 3 or 4 friends. They glide up above happily chirping and enjoying their flight. She watches them every day, but they never seem to notice her. She tries hard to understand their language and gives them signals by flashing her light. But they never sees her.

Aglow sits quietly and watches them fly by. She tries hard to read their signals, but never understands it. They seem to be different to her, not only is their signaling pattern different, they can fly so much higher than her other friends. They seem much bigger and brighter than the fireflies Aglow has seen or heard of. But what most fascinates her is the one firefly who glows bright red. He is the one Aglow feels most attracted to, and wants to meet. But how can she achieve this impossible, she has no clue. Neither can she fly so high, nor does she know where they stay. This little secret of hers seems to be staying a secret forever, unless she can find someone to help her meet her nameless friends.

Aglow’s mother keeps telling her that if she listens to her elders and stays a good bug then the Wish fairy will fulfill all her wishes. She prays every night to the Wish fairy to grant her just one wish…the wish to meet her ‘red glowing friend’.  Some days her heart yearns so much that she feels she cannot breathe. On one such night, she tiptoes away from her family and wandered ahead towards the Willowy groove. She knew those were the abandoned areas and has heard Grandpa Bug say frightening tales about gigantic moths who stays there and attacks the fireflies and smaller bugs. She knows till where she can fly and has no plans of crossing over to the abandoned territory. But destiny knows no boundary and strikes down at the most inopportune opportunity.  Just as Aglow turns around to go back towards the marsh, she sees a red tiny blink on the other side toward the willowy groove. For a second she thinks she must have seen it wrong. But then it blinks again…and once again. Though it is much smaller than how it appears on other nights and way closer towards her, she hopelessly wanders if it is the same red firefly she sees every night. The light kept blinking fast and hurried.  Could he be in danger? Was he lost? Aglow couldn’t spot his other 3 friends.  Aglow knows that she should not go on the other side of the marsh but the urge to save her friend is too overpowering and so she gathered all her courage and flies fearlessly towards the red blinking dot. 

The trees are bigger and denser in this part of the land and Aglow feels a tinge of fear, but she quickly brushes away these thoughts and focuses on her friend in danger. But the more she flies towards him, the further he flies away.  The forest is growing denser and darker and on reaching a bend, Aglow loses track of the red light ahead of her. She whirls around frantically, but cannot see her friend anywhere. Every direction she looks is dark and frightening. Suddenly a deafening noise disrupts the silence of the night and a deadly shadow covers the smiling face of the moon. Aglow peers behind and sees a huge flying insect charging directly towards her. Her heart sinks and her feet turn to stone, but she still manages to fly with all her might. The dark forest seems to close in around her as she whizzes past through huge trees shrouded in the cloak of darkness. The deadly buzzing sound approaches her fast and Aglow flies into the deeper recess of the jungle, far far away from home. But fatigue and panic seems to take over her young body and a sudden pang of regret washes over her. If only she would have listened to her mother and Grandpa Bug…. The huge deadly insect is coming closer and closer, and Aglow felt her wings and limb go numb. She closes her eyes, knowing well that this might be the last few seconds of her life. And just when the big, sinewy arms of the flying monster fall on her, she felt a sudden jerk followed by a loud thud. What happened next is mostly a blur. All she remembers is being flown away at a dangerously high speed, cutting through the trees and sliding down the branches. Was she even alive or was she free- falling onto heaven?



Chapter 2: Coming soon...