08/02/2026
Lightning Bugs
The original wood railing leading down the side porch to the back yard moved a little under the weight of his arm as he went down the steps slowly to the high grass on the lawn in the almost dark
His cane in his left hand and his right resting against the cold metal of the propane tanks behind the house, he felt his way to the aluminum beach chair with the faded blue plastic webbing, then turned until he faced the bank and sat with a satisfied sigh.
Reaching under his arm he pulled a leather satchel up to his lap and opened it. Inside was a metal container with a lid on top which he placed on the other beach chair next to his. Coppery in color it sat now beside him, and he glanced at it with hint of a smile at the corners of his mouth. Wait he thought.
He sat back after laying the leather satchel on the grass beside his chair, his fingers he noticed had a cool dampness to them from the dew now covering the lawn, as evening began its spread.
Out beyond he looked at the thick lilac bushes and the bank behind them that led down through more shrubs, birch and poplar to the river below where he could see the tops of a large willow that stood tall, it’s branches thick and spread over the slow moving water. The spot on both sides of the willow worn down to dirt from where he has stood as a boy with his father fishing, and later with his sons and grandsons, doing the same.
After a spell it became darker, and he bent once more and pulled an old mayonnaise jar with a metal lid, with small holes punched in it, from the leather satchel, and unscrewed the lid from the glass.
He held them both and waited. It was almost dark enough, It was almost time.
First a faint glint moving up and down, then another with a small glow moving, darting side to side in front of the lilac bushes, then more as the lightning bugs began their welcome mating dance. The males light beckoning the female to dance and follow.
Slowly rising from the chair the man stepped one foot ahead of the other towards the lightning bugs, their amber, green and yellow glow getting brighter as he got closer. When he was close enough he quickly moved the jar out, scooped up a passing lightning bug replacing the lid, screwing it back on and moving carefully in the dark back to his chair, where he sat once more, jar in hand. The lightning bug glowing bright, fading, then flowing bright again once more, as it bounced off the glass, up and down in the jar.
Okay he thought as he reached beside him and sat the jar and lightning bug on the chair next to the coppery colored metal container.
There it sat for the rest of the evening watching the lightning bugs spark and parade in front of the lilac bushes. as he had done on so many summer nights in the past. With his wife beside him on her beach chair, holding his hand.
He smiled then, staring for a while at the blinking light in a jar next to the metal container that was filled with the ashes of his dead wife.
Watching the lightning bugs.
