Fireflies and Fairies

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At the end of the dark night, when most people are asleep, I am still awake. My two big eyes were glued and stunned staring at the ceiling of the room. My eyes still refuse to close. My mind wandered to remember the events of a year ago, the events of that year exactly on the same date as today.

It was late in the evening, at the end of the evening I sat on the terrace of the house alone, waiting for my father who never came home from the gardens and rice fields. I pondered while occasionally looking around. There was no one in sight. Suddenly a firefly appeared followed by another firefly. With a dazzling twinkling light, the group of fireflies flashed in front of me. Like hypnotized, I followed where the fireflies flew.

I kept walking without paying attention to my surroundings and by the time I followed the fireflies there was not a single human that I saw. Unknowingly I had arrived at the edge of the forest. The forest is an area that the villagers where I live, especially children, are strictly prohibited from entering for any reason. There are various mystical, large, and very scary creatures hiding there.

I stopped, about ten steps away, in front I could see a very beautiful flower garden with hundreds of butterflies flying around it. I, who was strictly forbidden by my parents to enter just to play in the forest, of course never knew if there was such a beautiful place in the forest near where I lived.
At that moment I felt I was in another world. The sky that had almost turned dark, turned bright, the surroundings were filled with white light. The fireflies disappeared without a trace. The colorful flowers are arranged very beautifully. Against the blue sky full of white light, butterflies are flying happily and happily.

But there is something strange about the butterfly, its body and face are like humans. With beautiful colorful wings, in my mind I thought, "Are they butterfly fairies?"

The fairies danced merrily to the soft orchestral music typical of fairies. The melodious strains that flow from the violin and piano instruments fascinate me as if I don't want to leave the place. I was silent. I don't want my presence to be known by the fairies. I was afraid that my uninvited presence would interfere with their happiness. That's why I prefer to just observe from a distance.

It didn't feel like the afternoon had passed, the sky slowly turned dark. The fairies began to be faintly seen. The swarm of fireflies came back, the characteristic light from the belly of so many fireflies helped my vision. But, with the firefly's return it made me very scared. Helped by the flickering light from the fireflies, I saw the faces of the fairies turn into scary faces. They turned into a plume of thick black smoke and then formed a huge head with sharp canine teeth.

Then I walked crouched, everything turned so dark. I slowly moved without making a sound, trying to get away from the area of ​​the elf who had turned into a frightening figure. It was not easy, the rustling of leaves, the sound of branches breaking when stepped on accompanied the footsteps. When I looked back, the head-shaped plume of black smoke slowly began to approach, as if it knew I existed in their world.

In the midst of the confusion, I heard the faint voices of people calling my name. A very familiar voice to my ears. Yes, those are the voices of the people in my village. With full confidence mixed with fear I ventured to run after the source of the sound hoping there was a way out there.
The more I ran faster, the fairy who turned into a scary creature began to make noises, but not a roar like a tiger, but a laugh that echoed and scared me even more, my heart skipped a beat, a chill began to feel over my body.

Without knowing the direction and shrouded in darkness, I ran following my instincts. I began to feel pain in some parts of the calves of my feet, it was painful to be scratched by twigs. I can still clearly hear the sound of laughter that was very scary and filled the area, the laughter was getting closer and I was getting tired so I hit a big tree and fell. My breath hitched, my head felt so sore and dizzy. I can't run anymore, scary faces with sharp fangs ready to pounce. I surrendered and my eyes shed tears as my heart said, "Maybe this is the end of my life." In my mind, I can imagine the faces of my mother and father who are probably worried and crying over my loss.

One small bite stuck in the calf of the left leg. The pain was unbearable, my blood was sucked out. My head hurt and dizzy, I couldn't open my eyes. At that time all I felt was pain, fatigue, and resignation. After a while, it was like someone was shaking me and touching my face, then with the remaining strength and determination in my heart I opened my eyes. I could faintly see someone sitting in front of me and around me there were many people carrying fire torches with worried faces. I recognize the face holding me, Father.

"Are you okay kid?" Dad asked tearfully

I didn't know what to say. My head is still throbbing, the wounds all over my body feel very sore. I can only cry to answer questions from father. And where did the hideous creature go? Where are the fireflies? Illuminated by the torchlight, I saw the faces of my father and some of the villagers beside me more clearly.

Father quietly said, "Never follow a swarm of fireflies."

The End