Fire flies

An amateur naturalist steps into a fantastic world on a walk.

The alert amateur naturalist had first sighted the flickering glow in the distance, just after sunset. It took him an hour to reach the source, nestled in a dense wood, at the foot of the mountain.

His trek came to an abrupt halt. An ominous Iron Gate closed off the path ahead. A tall stonewall was built on each side of this path which disappeared into the distance. Atop each gate-pillar was an enormous glass lantern. The flashing light from these lanterns was brilliant, yet eerie.

Closer inspection revealed that the light came from millions of fireflies flying around inside each lantern. Strangely enough the flies didn’t appear to be stressed by their captive ‘home’.

His eyes became focused upon these tiny creatures. Their Morse code flashing seemed to beat invisible messages into his mind. He was mesmerised.

A small group of fireflies appeared at the gate. They thread their way through the ancient looking keyhole. The enormous key creaked and slowly turned to their command. The gate swung open. Walking in a hypnotic state, slowly up the winding driveway, he was dimly aware that he couldn’t take his eyes off the hundreds of smaller firefly lanterns that lined the winding drive.

His mind was almost devoid of any thought except the lanterns constant flashing, propelling him on up the mountain. Ahead, halfway up the slope, nestled amongst the tall pines, stood a large, rambling old house.
Fear made him start to tremble. He couldn’t seem to control his thoughts, emotions, or movements, as his legs involuntarily propelled him up the steps, towards the front door.

The door slowly opened. Shuffling inside, he was immediately surrounded by millions of fireflies, which flashed in a different rhythm from those left outside. These little creatures, normally so friendly and harmless to man, were now spiralling around him, almost making them feel giddy. He was literally ‘force flashed’ up the huge staircase inside, his body now helplessly out of control of his mind.

Breathing heavily, ears super sensitised to the lack of sound around him, and eyes unable to see further than the fireflies glow, he was allowed to pause at last at a heavy oak door at the top of the steps.

The fireflies left his side. He still couldn’t move. His feet didn't respond to his brain's commands. The fireflies flew up to the door. Incredibly, these tiny creatures started to form letters of the alphabet. A glow and low humming noise pulsated from behind the door. His hair started to stand up at the back of his neck. A minute later, the pulsating message flickered out in front of him.
‘COME IN, YE WHO DARE!’

Wendy Laing © 2000