THE TAIL OF SPARKY THE FIREFLY

THE TAIL OF SPARKY THE FIREFLY

         Sparky the Firefly was afraid to leave the security of his home near the fields that hot and dry summer evening. He knew that those bullies would be hanging around the corn stalks, just waiting for him to come along and be the target of their mean tricks.  Every night they waited for him because they loved to make fun of him and get him all riled up. His mother had told him to ignore them, to just fly away and not pay attention to them, but each night it got harder and harder to do that. Each night they came closer and closer to making him do something he never, ever wanted to do. And this night was no different.
         As he drew nearer to the corn field he could hear the buzzing of the bullies’ wings as they hovered around the outer stalks of corn, zeroing in on him and a few other fireflies just coming out from their homes.  Sparky’s friend Neon came close to him and asked, “Sparky, what do you want to do tonight? Do you think we should fly over near the girls and see if they want to play some games with us?”  Sparky looked at Neon and replied, “Do you want to play with the girls or do you want to just hang out someplace else?”  As he spoke, Sparky looked around, scanning the air for the bully fireflies. He was pretty nervous about staying where they were and wanted to get away as soon as he could.
         Neon was taking too long to answer, so Sparky just flew past him and headed toward the girls they knew from school. The girls were always hanging out together near the farmer’s flower garden where the air really smelled sweet.  Some people say that fireflies light up when they’re looking for a girlfriend or boyfriend; Sparky didn’t know that for sure yet because he was only a kid. He just figured girls had always been fun to play with and they never tried to bully him, so he liked them.
         Pretty soon Neon followed behind him and the two young fireflies began to talk to the girls and play a little hide and seek.  Hide and seek is a little tricky to play when you’re a firefly because just when you think you’re hiding really well, you get all proud of yourself and your tail lights up! That makes you kind of easy to find, so you have to learn how not to get all proud of yourself so you can stay hidden!  It had been during one of the hide and seek games that Sparky had found out just how bright his light could get. It had become so bright that it actually set off sparks! None of the other fireflies had ever seen that before, and neither had Sparky. After their initial shock, mostly everyone just laughed and went on playing hide and seek. They sure knew after that not to get Sparky too excited or proud of himself because they might get burned or something worse!
         After a while his firefly friends, especially the girls, got a little bored with the hide and seek game. They didn’t want to set off Sparky’s sparks and decided that the game wasn’t quite the same as it used to be, so they wandered off to talk in little groups, leaving Sparky and Neon to themselves. The two friends flew around together for a while, hanging around near the flower garden but not with anyone else. Neon was a little mad that the girls didn’t want to play with them any longer and he said, “Can’t your mother do anything about that tail of yours? Isn’t there something you can do to make it act normal? It kind of ruins everything, ya’ know.”
         “I’m sorry. My mother has tried to fix it but there’s just nothing she can do about it. Maybe we could find another game to play that doesn’t involve hiding and seeking. Maybe we could just fly races around the corn fields!” Sparky knew that probably wouldn’t work but was willing to try anything to make Neon not be so mad.
         “Just forget it, Sparky. We’re just going to have to hang out and not play games, just talk and do nothing. Don’t want to get your tail all lit up and smoky!” Neon sounded really upset, even though he hadn’t gone home and was staying right there with Sparky.
         “Well, Neon, I think I’ll just go home and go to bed. It’s getting late. Maybe I’ll see you tomorrow, okay?”  Sparky looked at Neon, who nodded his head and turned to go.  Sparky turned the other way and headed out of the corn field, kind of ashamed and kind of sad.
         As he turned the corner, something caught Sparky’s eye:  the bully fireflies were headed his way and they looked really mean.  They kept coming closer and closer until, suddenly, they all burst into jet speed and came right at him, yelling and screaming, and calling him names like “Torch Meister! Flame Thrower!  And Hot Tamale!” They were laughing and screaming these things at Sparky and he didn’t know what to do!
         Pretty soon they had him surrounded. They just kept screaming those awful names at Sparky and coming closer and closer. He was trying not to act scared but he most certainly was. When he saw a break in their circle, Sparky flew as fast as he could through it, his tail getting hotter and hotter out of fear.  The only way he could go was back over the corn field, so that is the way he headed, faster and faster, and hotter and hotter. He knew he couldn’t turn around or they would be all over him. Their voices rang out in his ears, pushing him ahead until he simply couldn’t fly any longer. He stopped and let out a horrible scream. The bullies stopped, too, and their eyes grew as big as their heads. Out of Sparky’s tail shot flames, actual, hot, red flames, and the corn stalks around him began to burn bright – and fast!
         As each corn stalk caught fire, flames shot up from it and started the next stalk on fire. In seconds the entire field was burning. Soon it would be out of control. Sparky didn’t know what to do! He had to think fast. What could a little firefly do against such a horrible thing?
         He flew out of the corn field and into the flower garden. The grass around the garden was moist so he knew it wouldn’t burn. But the flames were getting higher and higher and the fire was burning closer to the barns and farm house by the minute. Sparky could see Neon just at the edge of the field, his eyes ablaze in the firelight, his mouth hanging open like a cave. Sparky flew to Neon and pushed him away from the field. In a split second, Sparky remembered the sounds the cows and horses had made when the farmer had had a bonfire in the yard. The animals didn’t like the flames and the sounds the flames made; those noises scared the animals and they had bawled and neighed until their throats hurt and the farmer put out the fire.  So, Sparky pushed Neon along and they flew into the barn to wake up the cows and horses. Neon flew near the animals’ eyes and flashed his tail light at them. Sparky didn’t flash his tail light too hard but just enough to wake the sleeping animals. Pretty soon the cows and horses were mooing and neighing as loud as they could. Sparky watched for lights to go on in the farm house; he also kept an eye on the flames shooting up in the corn field. If any cow or horse tried to go back to sleep, Sparky and Neon would flash their tail light in the animal’s eyes and get them mooing or neighing again.
         In what seemed like a forever amount of time, the lights came on in the farm house, the farmer looked out and saw the flames, and the farmer’s wife called the fire department to come and put out the fire. Sparky and Neon flew back to the edges of the corn field and got there just in time to see the bully fireflies flying out of the field, coughing and choking on the smoke and flames. The bullies were frightened but, when they saw Sparky and Neon, they tried to scream at them and call them names. But the girl fireflies who had headed home earlier had seen what had happened, had seen the bullies bullying Sparky, had seen the fire start, and had seen what Sparky and Neon had done to get the farmer’s attention and save his fields. The girl fireflies huddled around Sparky and Neon; they wouldn’t even talk to the bully fireflies. All of them watched as the fire department arrived and poured water on the flames, saving the corn field and probably the farmer’s house and barns as well.  The farmer blamed the fire on the heat and dry air; he thanked the cows and horses by giving them lots of extra goodies to eat; and he thanked the fire department for coming so quickly to put out the fire.  He would never know how the fire really started.
         Sparky didn’t come out to play much anymore. He decided that his tail light, while very, very special, would have to be kept under guard for now, at least.  He would only let himself become very excited when he was near the pond or the flower garden, IF it had been watered recently.
                The bully fireflies had learned what could happen if they bullied someone. You never know the dangers you might stir up when you try to push someone around. Where there’s smoke, there’s fire, so they say; the bully fireflies knew that even a little tiny light can spark a flame!