The night was warm, but not unbearably so. As Scarlett walked by the parade grounds, the sweet smell of warm fresh watered grass reminded her of her childhood in Atlanta. Of warm summer nights spend in the backyard after supper, eating cool watermelon and catching fireflies with her brothers.
They'd keep them in jars on their dressers, night lights to send them safely asleep.
"Fairy-lanterns" her mother had called them. Scarlett had few memories of her mother, but the comforting bedtime stories were strong in her mind.
"When you have a fairy-lantern by your bed, the little people and their helpful forest spirits will know where you are, and watch after you," Scarlett"s mother always gave her warm, sweet milk before bed,
"Nothing can ever harm young bairns with the spirits nearby. If you listen very carefully, you can hear them singing you to sleep."
Little Scarlett would sip her milk and snuggle under the light summer covers. She stared at her lantern and concentrated. If she listened hard enough, past the snoring of her brothers in the next room, she could hear the faint lilting of the pipes, and sometimes, if she was really quiet, a low, woeful siren would waver up out of the darkness, silencing the pipers in a final mysterious note
Scarlett shook her head, bringing herself back to the present. This was a parade ground in a base filled with trained killing machines, not suburban Atlanta. Her mother had died long ago from a terrible cancer in her breasts; a lingering death. Scarlett never drank warm milk anymore. The little people and their spirits were childhood fantasy. Cobra was the reality now.
Face it , girl she thought to herself you gotta take care of yourself. No fairies or
phouka's got your back.
She continued on her way. It was past midnight, and she was tired. Her only long watch for two weeks was out of the way at last. Tenure had its privileges. Sacrlett felt sorry for the newer Joes recruited by Hawk. They
hadn't the benefit of years to prove their ability. Duke felt they needed extra base duties to test their merit. Hawk had thoroughly agreed.
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"I agree with you Duke," Hawks gravely voice had sounded almost fatherly,
"you know and can trust your own people. Extra duties for some seem a bit unfair, though."
Scarlett remembered Duke flashing his "movie star smile", a weapon he usually reserved for the press,
"Sir, I define "fair" as what is necessary for the individual, not forcing everyone to do the exact same thing. I know my Joes. These people are new. Give me some time to feel them out."
"Very well, soldier. Far be it from me to allow the pride of rank to ignore the voice of experience. You know your people. Draw up the rosters and post them in the mess."
***************************************************
A sudden sound stopped Scarlett in her tracks. She spun around just in time to see a large shaggy shadow disappear into the trees behind the baseball backstop.
"Timber!" her heart was pounding, "geez, give me some warning!"
Normally Timber would come and sniff her in greeting, but the wolf had faded into the night. Probably on the trail of a midnight snack. Scarlett wished luck to whatever fuzzy creature was on the menu tonight.
She crossed the playing fields and headed for the women's quarters. It had taken her years to convince her brothers that the base
wasn't one big apartment complex, with women and men lived side by side acting out some porn flick that even Pee-Wee Herman might find offensive. It just
wasn't true. The army was a suspicious, old fashioned grandmother of an outfit. Women were assigned quarters far away from the men, with a group of
MP's acting like a living contraceptive device.
Not that it stopped anything.
In a base filled with undercover infiltration specialists, any security system was about as effective as, well, as a screen door on a submarine, to quote a phrase. If the women wanted them in, they got in.
Flint and Lady Jaye had often found ways for a little night time fun. Of, course, Jaye had some
self-respect, and kept their dalliances discreet. Cover Girl just satisfied any of her needs off base when she was on leave. Naturally, the girls often got together and swapped stories of late night interludes and romantic embraces. Usually over daringly large bowls of ice cream and fudge.
Scarlett sighed as she opened her door and turned on the lights, wishing she had more to contribute to the late night gossip-fests. Yellow and blue leotard aside, she just
didn't get out much. Still, she had that one perfect date that had yet to be beaten. Scarlett poured herself a glass of juice, and relaxed on the couch, remembering how it started.
*********************************************************
"I just hope we can find a parking place!" Duke banked the skystriker and angled towards downtown.
Scarlett reached over the seat and tapped his shoulder, "You can't be serious! Fly into base and
we'll drive out."
"As if they'll let me once they set eyes on me," he already had the jet on course for base. He sounded grim,
"as soon as I set foot on that tarmac, they'll handcuff me to my desk and make me do paperwork"
"Duke, you have so much leave saved up, its a crime. If you just drive off, no
one's going to stop you. The paper work can wait. Why are you so scared of taking time off?"
"I was frightened by time off when I was a kid," Duke quipped.
Scarlett was quiet.
"Hey, they can't all be winners," he grumbled.
*******************************************************************
Scarlett was shocked out of her reverie by a knock at the door. Without waiting for a reply, Lady Jaye burst in.
"Scarlett, you've gotta see this!"
"Can it wait till morning?" Scarlett groaned, "I just got in, and a girl needs her beauty sleep."
"Don't get too pretty," Lady Jaye grabbed Scarlett and pulled her out the door,
"Besides, You won't see this in the morning, its kind of a night thing."
"I told you, I'm not spying on Cover Girl with any of those..." Scarlett stopped short when they reached the playing fields.
There were several Joes out on the grass, mumbling delightedly to each other. The moon was out and the sky was bright. Everywhere flickered the little lights of fireflies.
"Isn't it crazy?" grinned Lady Jaye, "I've never heard of lightning bugs in this part of the country. Never."
Flint sauntered over, his hands cupped together. "Why do stars, in the sky above..." He opened his hands and released fireflies all over Lady
Jaye.
"My Romeo," Lady Jaye rolled her eyes.
Scarlett walked over to Spirit, who was staring at the natural lightshow a mixture of awe and concern.
"So, Spirit, what does mother nature say we're in for? Famine? Drought? Locusts?" She grinned up at him. He had unbraided his hear for bed. Looking at him, she was reminded of Black Elk Speaks , sage wisdom ran in his blood.
"It is an omen, of what I am unsure," he glanced at the full moon, "With the moon gibbous as it is now, I would predict a revelation."
"You mean the fireflies really mean something?"
"Scarlett, fireflies do not survive in this area's climate. No one has ever seen them swarm in this part of the United States. Also, if you look around, you will notice that they are not flying beyond the playing fields."
Scarlett saw that he was right. The fireflies stayed directly over the football and baseball fields, as if trapped by invisible walls.
"What do you mean, "revelation"?"
"Fireflies are like tiny soldiers. My people know of them as messengers from the moon spirit, sent to us as a gift from her. They bring her light to the earth to help us see the way, or the truth." He trapped one gently in his hand, and pondered their luminescence.
"My mother used to say the fireflies were from the little people," Scarlett blushed at how silly she sounded,
"She would leave jars by our beds at night to guard us to sleep."
"Your mother was a wise woman. Throughout time, man has felt safer in the light, and the helpful spirits of mother nature have seen to it that we have security."
"Security? What was she protecting us from?"
"Things perhaps you couldn't see or understand," Spirit leveled an interested gaze on her, evaluating something he had missed before.
"Perhaps these fireflies were sent here
to help you see what your mother knew and you did not."
"Understand? See? As in?"
"Shakespeare once said. There are more things on this earth, than in..."
"I know, in my philosophy...This is too weird, I'm going to bed. Good night." Spirit nodded, and Scarlett headed back to her quarters, leaving the other Joes to revel in the dancing lights.
Bug butts, she thought, Nothing but phosphorescent bug butts. I'm too old for
these fairy tales.
Scarlett unlocked her door and pushed it open. She didn't bother turning off the light as she headed for bed, leaving a trail of discarded clothes as she went. She unlatched the window and pushed it open to let the sweet summer air in. Scarlett flopped on the bed, climbed under the covers, rolled over, and screamed.
There on her bedside table was a jar of fireflies, and a glass of steaming milk.