2 comments/ 16334 views/ 0 favorites Fireflies By: amicus I was happy when my daughter called: "Hey..." "Hey..." I answered, recognizing her voice. "What are you doin'?" "Not much," I answered, "what's up?" "Can you watch kids for a while?" "Sure...when...? "Pick you up on Friday...we wanna go out Saturday night and not worry about things..." "Sure, no problem..." "You need anything?" "Nope, I'm good." "Okay, see you Friday...love you..." "Love you too babe...see you then..." * They waited until the baby, eight months old, was asleep and the two older children, a boy and a girl, eight and four were locked into a Harry Potter DVD before they left. "Hey...you get bored...take a look through these..." She handed me a string tied file case and flipped through several tagged manila folders inside. I raised my eyebrows with a question on my face. "Oh?" "Yeah, you might find it interesting; I got assigned to it....out in your area, kinda weird." "Okay...hey...you guys have a good time...and don't worry...I haven't lost a kid in thirty years." She gave me a quick hug and her husband nodded as they left, closing the door behind them. It was an easy night; the little girl cuddled up next to me on the couch under her 'blanky' and was asleep before the movie was over, the boy made his own popcorn and snuck one of his mama's cokes. I pretended not to notice. They were abed and sound asleep and I had watched the late news, smoked on the back porch and found a half a glass of a tart 'Blue Nun' wine to sip on before I picked up the file case, blinked tired eyes and started to read. At the third folder in the file case I sat up straight in the chair before the computer and then walked to the kitchen and fired up the coffee pot. They got home late...very late...late enough to worry me for a while, but all was well. It was past noon when they seemed well enough to take the parental reins again. I changed a couple diapers, fed rice and baby food and cold cereal, put one back to bed and sent the other two out to play and fixed a lunch; Mac and Cheese and PB&J...you can't lose with that combination, not with kids anyway. She was hung over but happy and appreciative for the first night out in over a year. It's tough raising kids and working and going to college and having a husband in the Marines who is also going to college. She graduated with a degree in Psychology just about year ago and had landed a job with a social services agency in the County seat a twenty minute drive away. She had shared a few folders of her case assignments before as we both had an interest in human behavior; but what she shared this time was different. She was fuzzy around the edges and did not ask if I had read the material. I chose not to say anything. I did surprise her by asking that they run me back out to my apartment before the day was done. I just said I was tired...that the kids had worn me out. Her husband drove me back; he's a good kid, loves the hell out of my daughter and that makes me happy. We talked about a lot of things, a good talk and too soon we were there and I watched him back out of the driveway. I always take a little overnight bag...the usual things...but also, always, a note pad and something to write with. I took a lot of notes the night before. Things were as I had left them in my solitaire abode, what else would they be even though I never locked the door? I checked my liquor supplies and the still half full carton of menthol light 100's, turned the computer and the television on and fixed a drink. It would be a long night. Let me begin by saying that I am not a great fan of modern psychology. Somewhere along the line from celebrity psychiatrists to pop art, 'shrinks', in books and the movies, the field took on a somewhat surreal aura that seemed to have little to do with average people. Not that I am totally ignorant of the profession, Freud, Jung and Adler still echo in my brain cage from my college days, Margaret Mead along with B.F. Skinner and his behavioralist cohorts. But now there is a whole different tack; somewhere along the line Rytalin and Seratosin and valium and prozac and Zocor, found their way into the dictionary and suddenly drugs are the answer to all the mental problems of mankind. Well, that may be, but I really have my doubts that Soma is the answer to all our ills. But...that has nothing to do with what I discovered in those folders. The night before I had just scanned the first few files; faith healing, strange glowing lights inside houses, ghosts, apparitions, people long dead suddenly appearing before frightened observers. Then the similarity of the descriptions piqued my curiosity and I went back and started over again with file number one. About halfway through the files I began seeing notations in acronyms; 'file copied to NSA & NSC...' when I saw FBI and NASA, I sat back and began taking notes, scanning the files and emailing them to myself on her computer. I later thought that was probably not a good idea. I spent the entire night and the next day until noon being intimate with Google and Yahoo search engines. Then I got fuzzy and turned everything off and collapsed into my single bed. I found a county map at the library and bought a road map from a convenience store on the corner a few blocks from my apartment. I didn't have a plan but I had an idea of how to proceed. It was the Saturday following before we hooked up on the computer. I leave my 'instant message' feature on at all times so I can always 'be there', if someone needs something. She said, 'thanks' again for watching the kids and wanted to know if I had read the files she left for me. I lied. "Sorry, babe, I got all wrapped up in a movie and kept checking to see if the kids were covered and then I just conked out and went to sleep, sorry..." "No biggee, dad, it was just...well...some really strange things, I'm not sure how to deal with it." "Just follow procedure, I would guess. They just want you to fill out the files, visits and all that..." "That's the problem," she interrupted, "I can't get anyone to talk to me about it. They won't let me interview them, I really don't understand." 'Hmmm," I said, "dunno what to say about that. Hey, I need to go shopping in the big city, can you spare a couple hours? Maybe Monday?" "Well..." I could hear the hesitation in her voice. "It's a little important. Something I need to get done." "Well...okay...can my husband pick you up?" "I would rather you did...if you can manage..." The messenger window remained inactive for over a minute. "I guess...I can drive out there maybe in the afternoon. Ah, it's really important? You need to do something?" "Sorry, but yes...I need to go into town next week; can you manage?" "Yeah, okay, sure dad...see you about one thirty or so; that be all right?" It was closer to three when she finally pulled into the parking space. I could see she was not all that happy. She was even less happy when I put a finger over my lips got into her car and directed her where to drive. I had her stop at a baseball field behind the elementary school and walked her to the center of the diamond. It was hot, North Carolina hot and humid in deep summer and there was no shade in the center of the field. "I lied to you kid, I read the files you left for me." "Files? What files? "Your Case Action Files, the case history, the diagnostic compilations, and the recommended treatment procedures, you know; those people around here." She shook her head and frowned. "You read them? "Yeah, I did." "You brought me out here to tell me that? You don't need to go do something in town?" "No, I need to talk to you." "About those files?" "Yes." "I don't understand." "I guess we could go sit in the bleachers, I don't see any shade anywhere." She turned and looked at me with an almost, 'in your face' look. "It's hot and I don't have time for this and I don't understand. Why did you have me drive all the way out here?" I didn't speak, but led the way to the meager shade of a concession stand between two little league baseball fields. There was a large blue plastic soft drink case lying on its side, I picked it up and stood it one end and gestured for her to sit. "Did you notice that several federal agencies, including the Nuclear Regulatory Agency, the Central Intelligence Agency and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory and NASA were sent copies of the files you left for me to read?" She pulled the soft drink case alongside the wall, sat, and leaned back against the building. "You're kidding!" "I copied those files and emailed them to myself. I want you to go back and delete your 'sent' files and erase your 'history' of the websites your computer has visited." "Dad? Have you gone round the bend? I have no idea what you are talking about. I don't have a clue. There are just some weirdo's living around here that I thought might interest you. It's not a big thing." "It is more than that, girl...way more than that." She angrily shook her head. "I'm starting to worry about you. Drove all the way out here and I have a ton of other things to do and you tell me all this bullshit? Shit!" "I'm sorry. I wish I had more to tell you. But...please delete the stuff I mentioned, humor an old man and don't be so grumpy. I think something big is going on out here and I didn't want to tell you over the phone or online." "You think my phone is bugged?" She glared at me over her shoulder as she hurried back to her car. "You're only a mile away; enjoy the walk!" She was pissed. She spun her wheels and threw dust into the sultry afternoon as she fishtailed down the dirt road and across the grass onto the paved road. I did not see her look back. All of my kids, all eight of them, have a stubborn streak, I hope they didn't get it from me, but I rather suspect they did. I don't know what I expected her to say. Maybe I was being irrational, overly concerned...maybe. It took an hour up out of the school property, across the railroad tracks and along the tree lined residential street with upper middle class homes surrounded by ample yard space and manicured lawns on each side. One of the houses, a three story old white structure with southern styled pillars, had four gracefully guarding the entrance. It was one of the houses that had remained empty for a year; one of the houses that was said to be 'haunted'. The only one in the town proper; all the others were rural and all within one to two miles from the center of town. I stopped at the small family owned market I always shopped at, nodded hello to the several acquaintances I had made and picked up six cold ones, big ones...sixteen ouncers. Then I drank and smoked and thought until the alcohol dulled me to sleep. Fireflies We're lying on a grassy hill by this gorgeous lake somewhere pretty far away from the party we were just at. Its past midnight, but I really don't know anything beyond that. Details are blurry right now...all that matters is the warm weight on my chest and the vanilla scented hair brushing my cheek. Oh god...the lights are so bright. So colorful and shimmering...there are too many of them. It would be scary if I didn't have somebody to hold onto. "The stars, they look like fireflies...rainbow fireflies." He says. Oh, those are stars. It all makes sense now. God they're so beautiful though. "But they're so close. Won't we get burned?" I ask, not really afraid yet. I'm too high to be afraid, especially with his head on my chest like this. "No silly, you can't get burned when you're in love." He sighs. And it makes sense to me, when he puts it so simply. It's the only chance I get to just be with him. No titles, no restraints, no requirements. It's a beautiful thing, the simplicity of it and the rapturous feeling that comes when it's just us and the truth, uninhibited. The wonderful weight on my chest shifts suddenly, though everything seems rather sudden in this dreamy state. He looks up at me with the stars reflected in his dark blue eyes. "Do you think there's anything better than this? Just this, right here and now?" he asks. "No. Not really. Maybe different, and on the same level...but not better." I murmur. Everything feels so sensual all of a sudden. The press of warm Texas air all around us, the coolness of the night breezes making it not quite so harsh. The lake's surface is glassy and uninterrupted, except by the reflections of those marvelous stars. I sit up slightly so that he is leaning his back against my chest. "Actually, there might be something better than this." I whisper seductively in his ear. He turns his head and catches my mouth in a gentle kiss. I think he knows the 'something' of which I am speaking. Our lips slide together expertly, as if we've been doing this forever. Perhaps we have...yet each time it seems new and fresh. Each time I get that feeling in the tips of my fingers, all the way up and down my spine, which says this is a new and exciting thing. He deepens the kiss, and I can taste a hint of the sweet alcohol we've both been drinking. His lips taste like strawberries, with a tiny bit of that sharpness that alcohol lends to any flavor. The taste excites me beyond words, and I feel that telltale heat building between us. "I love you." He whispers against my collarbone, sending thrills through my skin and making it tingle with warmth. "I love you back." I sigh into his hair. He looks up at me again, with that fire in his eyes...and I know he means it. Our clothes seem to fall off, with no real effort from either of us. We are languid, but there's still that need surrounding us. There is energy and tension, all wrapped up in a layer of silken familiarity. Secure yet dangerous, an addictive mixture. I fall back onto the pillow of our clothes as he is sliding off my panties. The feeling of the soft cotton sliding down my legs puts me in a further state of absolute desire. I didn't realize it, but my body is ignited with lust. I need his skin on mine. Now. "Come here, baby." I whisper to him, pulling him down by the shoulders. His arms slide underneath my back and we share an embrace that isn't nearly close enough. I could squeeze him with all my might and it still wouldn't be close enough. He pulls him arms free and traces a feathery line down between my breasts, to my tummy, then to my hipbone and the inside of my thigh. I can't keep my hips still; these touches just inspire them to move more. I'm always a bit wanton when he's involved. I can tell he likes these movements, so I give him a smoldering glance through my eyelashes to go with them. "You better be careful with that look, missy." He says. His hand is still moving like a butterfly over my thighs and tummy, purposely ignoring the one spot I'd love them to be on. He's learned how to tease simply because I do it to him so much, I suppose. "I am careful with it. I only use it on you, and only when absolutely necessary." I purr, laying on the seduction. He kisses my lips, almost before I'm done speaking, moving slowly down to my neck. I feel the soft pressure of his teeth on the skin just above my shoulder and moan. That's my favorite spot. "Harder, baby." I say, which comes out as more of a request than a demand. I blame it on lack of oxygen due to being extremely turned on. Or something. He complies, biting down a little harder and sucking on the soft skin of my neck. I love a little pain with my pleasure, and the mark the bite leaves feels like a symbol of ownership. I never hide my hickeys. I wiggle around a little, so that his hips are between my thighs. Just a gentle reminder of my absolute and relentless need. "I get it, cutie." He laughs. When he pushes into me, he's not laughing anymore. What was so airy and teasing in him two seconds ago is now very driven, almost animalistic. It's only like this outdoors, at night. It's so raw and earthy, I can't help but be a little louder than usual. It's freeing. "The grass brings out your eyes. I love you all spread out on the grass like this." He pants, staring into my eyes. Then I catch those sparkly blues drifting downward, over all my pale skin exposed shamelessly in the moonlight. He pulls my arms from around his back and stretches them out above me, pinning me down. It feels sexy to be dominated by this boy, who I know would never hurt me. He bites my neck again and I fall into that golden, shimmering abyss. "Baby!" I cry out. He lets my hands go and slides his down to my hips. His fingers bite into the flesh of my backside, and he follows me to that amazing place. After much incoherent moaning and panting, he lies down next to me. I lay my head on his chest, and listen to his heart hammering. I love this time, when we can just hold each other and recover. I trace little patterns on his tummy and kiss his collarbone, and think of how lucky I am to have this person next to me. I look up at the stars, and they still look like fireflies, only this time, I'm not scared at all. Fireflies Ch. 02 I was in this small town, this state...far from my old stomping grounds in Oregon and Washington to be near kids and grandkids. I quit working a couple years ago but took a job as an all purpose reporter for the local newspaper. It wasn't the pay but the chance to get out and around and besides, I enjoyed covering high school sports and school events. I had my fill of local politics and avoided any efforts by the editor to get me to cover city and county meetings. It also gave me a list of contacts with local people and I used that list to track down the scarce information in my daughters files. The first was a woman in her seventy's who had given me a history and some old photographs of the town that dated back to the 1920's. I did a piece that ran in three parts in three consecutive weekly editions of the small paper. She cocked her head to the left as I hedged my way around to asking about strange events in the town and surrounding countryside. "Lot or rumors been going 'round, Mr. Dean." Her round wrinkled face grinned up at me and her blue eyes twinkled in the bright sunlight. "Well," I answered, "it's probably nothing but I got an anonymous note left at the newspaper office about a mysterious healing of a blind man. Do you know anything about that?" "That'd be Mr. Jennings...Billy...went to school with him. He went blind nigh on...oh, my, twenty years ago." "And now...?" I asked her. "He was in here this morning; bought a pair of sun glasses." Mrs. Durling and her husband Mack, had owned and operated a variety store in the town for twenty-six years. They both retired but she filled an old mill building with the remnants from her store and ran a weekend 'Saturday market' of consigned and donated goods. They didn't need the money but she needed to stay in contact with people she had served across a counter for half a life-time. She loved to talk and reminisce but she was not being talkative on this day. I smiled at her. "Well, I guess he can see if he bought sun glasses?" "Yup, reckon so." I cocked my head in her direction and muttered a, 'hmmm.' "Would there be anythin' else for ya Mr. Dean...?" "How might I run across this Billy Jennings, if you don't mind?" She stared at me for a long moment. "Well, ye did a fair piece callin' me the 'History Lady' 'n all...lotta people came by said they read that. Y'd prolly find Billy at Martha's home cookin' round noontime." She flashed her eyes at me in a quick glance and turned back to the entrance to the building. I watched her move away in her sweater and 1940's style ankle length dress and remembered she had told me that even with a degree in Chemistry, Du Pont was not hiring women chemist's in the 1950's. I wondered if she was talking down to me. There were only five booths and seven counter stools in the badly lit restaurant and only one single elderly man with sparse white hair and a pair of sunglasses resting on the counter before him. He was not a big man but was a little lumpy around the middle that made him look substantial. "Mr. Jennings? I'm Wesley Dean from the newspaper. Can you spare a minute or so? Mz. Durling said you might be here." He glanced up at me, squinted a little and moved his head toward me. "She did, did she? Did Becky tell you I got in her pants when we were thirteen, out behind that mill she bought?" He caught me flatfooted. I laughed and choked and coughed then put my notebook down on the counter and sat down beside him. "No sir, she didn't tell me that, but her eyes sure sparkled when she said your name." "She got old an' I didn't see it happening. I got old too. Looked in the mirror a while back for the first time in twenty years; m'damned hair turned white. Sorry thing to happen to a man." I searched for something to say as his clear green eyes focused on me for a moment before he turned away. "Newspaper man lost for words? Alert the Media!" He slapped me lightly on the shoulder and raised his coffee cup and noisily sipped. "How did you lose your sight?" I did not look toward him, but at the confusion of coffee makers and grills and condiment loaded shelves facing the counter. "Always had bad eyes; thick glasses, headaches...got worse and worse...glaucoma, I think they call it...never thought I wouldn't be able to see at all." "Sorry." "Sorry don't get it, sonny, I see you wear glasses...take care of yer own eyes, get check-ups...bein' blind ain't a helluva lot a fun." The waitress stood in front of me, pad in hand. "Coffee, please..." "Sumthin to eat...?" I looked at the bowl of soup before Billy. "What kind of soup?" "Chicken vegetable..." "I'd like a small bowl and a bacon lettuce, tomato sandwich, don't toast the bread." "'Kay..." She turned on her heel grabbed a cup, poured on the way back around and sat the coffee in front of me. The interruption gave me time to frame a question. "How did you get your sight back?" Billy was not perhaps an educated man but he was not dumb either. "Right to the heart of the matter, eh? Well...I don't mind...it happened kinda slow like...little flashes of light and funny...light headed feelings...and...the best thing...no headaches..." I wanted him to keep talking. "No headaches?" "Strangest thing...I started seeing little white lights flitting across my eyes and my headaches went away. I live with my daughter and I tried to tell her but she didn't pay me no never mind." "Your daughter...?" I asked. "Yeah, she's a bible thumper; she prays over me every day, figures I lived a bad life and am being punished by God. She makes me go outside to smoke, rails at me for leaving her mother, hides my booze, wants me to take a bath and change clothes every day. Real pain in the ass woman she is." I looked over at him and smiled. "Women...can't live with 'em..." "...Can't live without 'em!" We male bonded in that moment in a crude way, I suppose, but still, I understood him and in my agreement, he trusted me. I saw his shoulders relax and an easy smile appear on his face. "My daughter said a Halo of God surrounded my head and she was frightened. She said she tried to put her hand on my head and her hand tingled and she felt she had to take her hand away. She told me she sat and watched as the Halo got larger and went up and down my body and got larger around my head. I don't remember any of it." I looked at him and blinked. "And then you could see?" "No...it didn't happen like that. I don't know how to say...I, I sensed gray...not light, but not black, not dark and I didn't understand...I had not felt that I could see anything for so long and then...then I felt I could see gray...it was a really strange feeling." "I don't understand." I shrugged my shoulders and nodded to the waitress as she put the bowl of soup in front of me. "Christ Almighty, newspaper man, I don't understand either but I felt something and it started to happen and minute by minute the gray turned to white and then I started to see blurry outlines of things. Then my daughter said goodnight and I went to sleep and when I woke up I opened my eyes and I could see!" "You could see? What did you see when you woke up?" He shook his head and his whole body moved as he spoke. "I could see the curtains on the window and the light streaming in, I could see the colors of the wallpaper and the quilt on the bed. I was shocked to my very heels; I thought I was dreaming!" He spooned soup and so did I and my sandwich arrived and it looked thick and good and the first bite was Blt heaven. "They make a good sandwich." "Good food here...always has been; been comin' here since m' wife passed." I swallowed and took a sip of coffee. "What do you think happened; that you can see again?" "Act of God, no doubt. I don't deserve it but I sure am thankful." "A miracle for sure," I said, not knowing what else to say. He looked askance at me and went back to spooning his soup. I finished my sandwich; we paid our bills and left the restaurant together. He didn't tell me much more about his experience but he did give me another name that was not in the files I had from my daughter. Before we parted company, he laid a hand on my shoulder and spoke in a low serious voice. "That's not all that happened to me. I feel young and healthy again. I got my appetite back, I don't just drip when I take a piss and when I take a deep breath my whole chest fills up. I haven't felt this healthy in years and years." I watched him walk away from me and he did have a youthful spring to his steps. I just shook my head slowly and turned away. That name led me to another empty house. But a neighbor lady looked through a screen door: "Hey you!" I turned to the sound, walked a few steps and said: "Hello there!" "They took her away to the looney bin coupla weeks ago. Funny things happnin' round that house." She wouldn't say much more...no strange sounds, but flickering lights coming from the now empty house that still continued. I noticed the blind was down on the door as she closed it, I looked as I walked away; all the windows were closed and shaded. I smoke...a lot. Couple three packs a day when I am working. My desk and library are in a small child's bedroom maybe ten by twelve or so. I kept the one window cracked open about four inches at the bottom to keep a little air flowing through the screen and into the house. Even the mesh filters covering the fans on my computer tower turn nicotine brown in a week or so. I try not to think about my lungs. It was through that small gap in the window that I heard an unusual sound. I muted the cable news channel and cocked my head to hear better; I heard the faint sound of a struggle and then a muted high pitched scream. I had leather soled house slippers on. I grabbed a jacket and the night stick my son-in- law had given me. I didn't like keeping a gun around the house, not since my hunting days. I went quickly and quietly out the front door and around the side of the house back to where the window faced onto a large lawn and overhanging red oak tree. It took my eyes a little time to adjust to the dim light of a street lamp a block away before I saw movement on the ground under the tree and another muffled scream. "Hey, you bastard!" I shouted as I ran forward with the night stick in my right hand. "What the fuck's goin' on?" A dark figure rose before me appearing huge in the shadows. I swung the metal night stick hard as I saw an arm and aimed for it. "Oww! Fuck! Goddamn man, you broke my fuckin' arm!" I stepped forward and swung again, at his head this time, but he ducked underneath and stumbled backwards, away from me. I moved forward until he took off running across a small leaf filled drainage ditch before I turned back to the crumpled figure sprawled out on the ground. "Are you okay?" I heard a choked sob and then crying as I knelt down beside a small blonde haired female figure. "Are you hurt?" "Don't know..." she whimpered. I reached a hand out to her. "Can you get up?" She took my hand and the cried out in pain as she tried to pull herself up. "Ma, my chest hurts really bad..." I took my cell phone out of my jacket pocket and called 911, gave them the address and asked for an ambulance and then draped the jacket over her upper body. The police and fire department building was only a few blocks away; I could hear the volunteer siren start up and then the cough of a diesel engine. "They'll be here in a minute. You're gonna be okay." She huddled under the jacket, shivering and crying. I put my hand gently on her head and stroked her hair until I saw the flashing lights coming down the street. I stood up and walked out to guide them in. One cop and two paramedics had her bundled up and on a stretcher and into the ambulance quickly and the cop was asking questions before the tail lights disappeared down the street. I answered all the questions, twice and told the officer all I knew. He wanted to me to come to the station and sign a report. "Now...?" I asked. "Yes, sir, if you don't mind." Well I did mind. But what was the point? I climbed into the patrol car. "You'll bring me back?" "Sure, Mr. Dean, no problem..." Well, it must have been a problem. I repeated what I had told him twice before twice again, signed a piece of paper and sat. Half an hour later I asked about my ride back. "Can't leave right now; be just a bit longer til' the medics get back." I gave it ten more minutes then got up and walked out the door without a word. It was only a few blocks to walk back; I should have just left after I signed the report. I walked past the tree in the yard and retrieved the night stick, picked up my jacket with the cell phone still in the pocket and called it a night. Fireflies for Miko Fireflies sparkle like stars that have fallen to the earth. "Look at that one! I've never seen them fly that high!" Yuichi says with delight, pointing to a spot half way across the field that they were walking in. "Wow, I wonder why he's way up there?" Miko whispered, not wanting to break the spell of their surroundings. She was glad that they had gone for a walk tonight, it might be the last time that she saw fireflies for a long time; she was going to attend college in California, and she had heard that they didn't live on the west coast. Vermont was quiet in the summer, but it had its own special beauty. They walked together in the tall dew-damp grass, holding hands. Miko shivered in the cool June darkness. The grass was almost mid-thigh height for her, and the seed tops tickled her, spattering her legs with dew. Yuichi let go of her hand for a second, and got down low, stalking the fireflies like a cat. With a quick pounce, he caught one in his hands. "Ooh, let me see!" Miko giggled and he brought his cupped hands over to her to share his treasure. She leaned in close to look, and he carefully opened his hands. Blink, flash! "Pretty!" she said, just as it flew away. Yuichi continued to look at her. "I agree," he said, smiling at her. He sat down in the grass, and held out his hand to her. She took it and sat next to him, leaning on his shoulder. Shyness stole over the two, and they sat quietly watching the sparkling show. "Do you think..." "I read that- oh, sorry!" They both tried to speak at once, and laughed. He reached his right hand to touch her face, turning it towards his. His lips touched hers, brushing them softly. She sighed, and he rested his forehead on her temple, whispering her name into her ear. "Miko…" Their lips met once again, gentle at first, and then their kiss deepened, becoming more passionate. Yuichi pushed her, laying her down on the grass, and she gasped from the cold dew that dampened the back of her sundress. She tried to sit up from the shock of it; but he lay down next to her, placing his hand over her ribcage. "Shh-it'll be OK in a minute, you'll warm up. It's only dew." He had been lying on his side, and quickly rolled over so he was half-on top of her. She reached up, touching his hair, running her fingers through it. He closed his eyes for a second, sighing and leaning his cheek into her hand. He kissed her wrist, and when she slipped her hand to the nape of his neck, he touched the tip of his tongue to her lower lip. He kissed her with feather light kisses, trailing them over her jaw, and down to her neck. Yuichi found a sensitive spot near her left ear that made her tremble as he caressed it with his tongue. She moaned, and he started to suck on her there, but careful not to mark her delicate skin. Almost with reluctance he moved on, nipping her earlobe with his teeth; and her breath sped up. He could feel her heart pounding through the white-and-pink cherry print dress. Her hands went to his shoulder-blades as he moved down to kiss her collar-bone, then inch by inch lower until he kissed her nipple through the cotton. It grew hard against his lips, and he nibbled at it, causing her to wiggle and arch her back to get closer to him. His hand went to her other breast and squeezed, just a little, and kneaded it until she started to breathe heavily. They had never gone this far, even though they had been a couple for a while; it was never quite the right moment. He was excited, a lot actually; and hoped that it would be tonight. Miko tentatively put her hand on his waist, running her fingers under the band back and forth, and he pulled himself from her breast, sliding his body over hers so their hips met as he reached her lips, causing her to gasp again. Experimentally he ground into her, rubbing his now stiff cock against her. Her eyes went wide, and she trembled violently, breath coming in gasps now. Her nails dug into his lower back, almost piercing the skin there. It IS tonight! He thought, jubilant and trying to hide it from her. He kissed her, less restrained that he had ever done before, and groaned. Their kisses became desperate, more and more, until he was dizzy from it. He forced himself to pull away, gasping for breath. Beads of perspiration covered her brow, and started to appear in the little spot above her upper lip. Her face was flushed rosy pink with arousal, and he had never seen anything more incredible. "Oh, Miko…" he said in a heavy whisper. "Miko…" Yuichi pushed himself up, and sat back on his heels, kneeling in the grass. He lifted the front hem of her sundress, turning it back to expose her panties. She had on lace edged ivory silk bikinis. They looked so soft that he that he ran his fingertips over the place where they covered her hip, then to her belly. She trembled at his touch, and bit her lip in shyness, parting her legs a little. His fingers brushed down further, and he found that the silk there was damp. Moaning, he grabbed them at their top, just behind the side seam and pulled them off of her. She looked at him, her eyes going down to his groin, and then got up on one elbow. "May I?" she asked in a voice barely more than a whisper. Yuichi nodded, and she unbuckled his belt, having difficulty at first with the rigid leather. It opened up under her tiny fingers, and she worked at the hook of his pants next, and then finally his zipper. His underwear were snug fitting boxer-briefs, and they did nothing to hide his erection. Her blush darkened, and he asked her if he was her first- he thought that he was, but he wasn't sure. She nodded, and looked down at the grass next to herself. Yuichi put his hand beneath her chin, raising her face to his, and told her "It's OK, I promise." He moved to take off his briefs, and she stopped him. "No- I want to. Let me," she said. He couldn't breathe, and his heart beat madly in his chest. "S-sure," he answered, and she pulled at the elastic waist and took them off, carefully pulling them down. Timidly she touched a finger to the head of his cock and found the slick pre-cum at the tip. It twitched and she jumped, withdrawing her hand a little from being startled. Yuichi laughed kindly, and then pushed her back again, making sure that her dress was underneath her bottom to protect her from the prickly grass. A few of the crickets that chirped nearby stopped their song; they must have been really close to them. Her long hair spread out on the grass, and he touched the ends of a strand as he lay back on top of her, and kissed her. Looking her in the eye, he told her that it might sting a little. "Are you ready?" She again nodded, and he pressed into her entrance, finding her so tight that he had to push harder to be able to get in. He met resistance part way, and had to use almost full force to break through. Miko cried out in pain, and he comforted her until she was only whimpering, and then started to move. Yuichi pulled out most of the way, and then thrust back in a few times; and Miko's soreness faded with her growing excitement. He stopped for a second, and pulled off his shirt- he was perspiring a lot from being so aroused, and the cool air felt good on his back. She put her hands on his near-hairless chest, and ran her palms in the sweat there, feeling his heart beating wildly. They started moving again, this time with him kneeling upright, and her hips lifted off of the ground, the heels of her bare feet behind his back. He thrust as deep as he could, and the sound of her breath changed, so he pulled back and thrust in again, just as deeply. She moaned, and her eyes closed. He went a little faster, and she started to rock her head from side to side, panting. Oh, god, he was so close. Her eyes flew open wide suddenly, her chest heaved, almost undulating and her head snapped up. Miko cried out, gasping, and Yuichi missed his rhythm, shocked as he felt her muscles grip his cock. Oh my god- she came?! Shit! …and that was the last thing that was able to enter his mind as he had his own orgasm moments later, unable to hold back any longer. He heard his own voice cry out in the distance as he saw blinding blue-white light against the blackness of his eyelids, and his whole body was wracked with shudders of release. He fell back onto his heels, kneeling and trying to get his breath back, and felt a tickle on the bridge of his nose. He opened his eyes in time to see lurid green light flash right in front of them- a firefly had landed on him. It took off, and he looked down at Miko. Her chest was still working hard, and her breasts were covered in perspiration, reflecting light from the moon that had just come up into the night sky. Her hair was still spread out around her on the grass, but it was tangled from their efforts, and fireflies had landed in it, decorating her with pale green lights. "Will you miss me when you are off at college?" He asked her, smiling down. She nodded silently, and then said "Yeah, I will." Fireflies, Immaculate Conception It was several months into my investigation into the mysterious lights, 'fireflies', as I came to call them before I began to fully realize what I had stumbled upon. Soon after my discovery of the large farmhouse on fifty acres of tree lined land and the make-shift laboratory in the basement, I had my first visit from the Feds. Men in Black I called them. Six cars full arrived in my parking lot late one night, they surrounded the house and banged on both the front and back door at the same time. It did not surprise me that they showed up. The case files that led me to the strange anomalies in and around this small town had been tagged and information copied to several Federal Agencies. What did surprise me was the almost over polite manner in which they questioned me. They wanted information; they wanted to know what I had learned. I had very little to tell them and I told them almost everything I knew. They left after less than half an hour, left me shaking my head and wondering. The telephone rang and my frantic sounding daughter, who had let me read the files, was sobbing into my ear. "You were right! The damned FBI came to my house...they just left, they took the files and told me I had been taken off the case. Dad, what the hell is really going on out there? I'm sorry I was such a bitch to you...are you still mad? Do you forgive me? I'm really sorry." "They were here too, babe. But they just asked a few questions and left. When you get the time maybe we can talk some more." "But I....oh...you...oh, okay. Jesus, dad, I'm really sorry I got you involved in this. I had no idea..." "Not to worry, girl, it has given me something to really think about. Not your fault." "Dad, I love you...be careful, okay?" "Love you too, I will. Let me hear from you, soon...okay?" "Bye..." "Bye..." Nothing much happened over the next several days; the weather broke and spring arrived, not gently but with a sudden wind shift and warm tropical air rushed up from the Gulf of Mexico and blanketed the Carolina countryside. There is a medium sized family owned supermarket that I shop at, because it is near and I can walk to it. I need the exercise. My little red Toyota after running perfectly the 3000 miles from Oregon decided to be temperamental and refused to run. It would turn over, start and run for a few seconds and quit. I put it in the garage and left it there; that was almost six months ago. I either walked or rode a girl's ten-speed that with a half a can of WD-40 was quickly in working condition again. The bike was left in a corner of the garage by a previous owner or renter. I didn't think they would mind. I like my beef steak aged, you know, turning a little brown in the meat case. Dorine the butcher, knew that and when she removed a package from the display, she marked it down and saved it for me. I had written an article on the market and included a photograph of her and the manager and his father when I first started writing for the local newspaper. She always treated me nice when I shopped. On this spring day she had a frown and a concerned look on her face. "Mr. Dean, Wes. ah...do you think you could talk to Janie, she has been really down and won't talk to anyone. I would really appreciate if you would try..." I took the cellophane wrapped 12 ounce New York strip, put it in the little red carry basket I always used and shopped and thought until I saw that Janie's aisle was empty. "Hellooo gorgeous...!" I smiled and plunked the basket on the checkout counter. I got a wan little smile in return as she reached down and began running my selections through the scanner. When I first arrived in this town, nearly two years ago, I thought the people were a bit stand-offish, not outwardly very friendly. The market and Janie were different. I always got a smile. One time in particular, Janie who is five-six or seven and her dark haired friend, a smaller girl, maybe five-one or two, were chatting, like teenaged girls do and flirting with the stock-boys and the customers, tossing hair and fluttering eyelids. A stocky man with sparse sandy hair lifted up a little blonde haired girl, maybe four years old onto the counter as he unloaded his shopping cart. The little girl looked back and forth focusing intently on the two older girls as they giggled and twittered, moved their hands and bodies in girlish ways. I went back to my apartment and wrote a poem, 'Watching what the big girls do.' A few days later I printed it out a left a copy for Janie and her friend. That was pretty much my relationship with Janie who I thought was in college and her friend Raven who was in college. Janie, when I first met her was only sixteen, but I did not know that at the time. She is a pretty young woman, with sparkling blue eyes and a models figure, tall and thin, maybe 120 pounds, perky uplifted breasts and hips not yet filled out woman style. Just a delightful girl to glance at and smile at; I always treasured her open smile. Then, late last summer, she was not in the market for several days so I asked if she was on vacation or something. It turned out she was swimming in a bay and was hit by a speedboat. They had to amputate her right leg at the knee. I felt a sadness beyond expression. A lovely young person so alive and vital, so cheerful and optimistic about her future... Why her? She came back to work at the market about two weeks later. She looked pale and drawn and an ugly black carbon fiber prosthetic glared forth where her lower leg had been. But she smiled at me and let me put an arm around her shoulder. I squeezed just enough to tell her all I could in that short instant then pulled away. But I was amazed. She did not let it outwardly affect her. She continued school and worked her regular schedule at the market, even went off to a concert two hundred miles away with her boyfriend. The months went by and I slowly put my worries aside, that it would ruin her life, that she would lose hope. She just kept on smiling in her own special way. But not today... She finished checking my groceries and held her hand out for the twenty I fished out of my pocket. I took hold of her hand and she raised her eyes to mine, blank eyes...empty eyes. Then a question appeared on her face as she blinked and realized I had her hand in mine. "I wrote you a poem, a while back..." She tilted her head and nodded slightly, just once. "Can I talk to you when you get off work?" "Why?" "You owe me for the poem." "I do?" "Won't hurt to talk...will it?" She lowered her eyes. "N..no...I guess not..." "About eight...? "Eight fifteen...maybe twenty...I have to cash out." "You driving...?" "Yes." "You trust me?" There was a hint of the old Janie in her eyes, "Yeah, sure, I trust you. Why?" "Something I want you to see." She tilted her head again and shrugged her shoulders. "Okay, I guess..." The black prosthetic had been replaced by a state of the art device. She could stand and walk but with a limp. She came out of the market with her purse hung over her left shoulder and a walking stick in her right hand. I followed her to her car. "I didn't think I would ever learn to drive again with this damned thing." She said as she backed out of the market parking lot and pulled out onto the street. "Which way...?" I directed her out of town, across a bridge and out into the countryside. "This is the road to the high school." "Yep, slow down, make the next right, it's not much further." She sat silent as I opened the gate and motioned her to pull her car inside. I walked back alongside and she rolled down the window. "We have to go on foot from here..." "We do...? Why?" "Still trust me?" She hesitated for just an instant. "Well, yeah, I guess, but his is kinda weird." "I know; I'm sorry. We can go back if you want to." I took her hand as she got out of the car. She fumbled for her purse and the walking stick. I took a flashlight from my jacket pocket and focused it on the driveway in front of her. She took a step and then looked up, out in front of her. "It's too early for fireflies...?" I stopped alongside her. "Yes, it is." "You're freakin me out!" "There are no lights on in that house. Where are we"? What is this place?" I reached out and put my hand on top of her hand that grasped the walking stick. "I guess you just have to trust me, Janie. Nothing bad will happen to you, I promise." She didn't say anything and when I took a step forward, she came alongside and we walked slowly toward the dark structure accompanied by flits of light all around us. Inside, I found her a place to sit and lit some candles and clicked the flashlight off. She remained quiet, watching me move about the room and then gazed about the enclosure and then fixed her eyes on me. "My mom asked you to talk to me." "Yes, she did." She fidgeted on the straight-back wooden chair and looked away from me. "My boyfriend...we're engaged...been going together forever...he's been so good to me...considering...he went dancing last weekend...without me..." "I'm sorry." "I don't blame him, I'm a crip now, not such a prize anymore." "You are a beautiful young woman, Janie...you have done so well...considering..." "Yeah, thanks...I thought so too." I stood up and paced back and forth in front of her. "I was so sad when I learned what happened. I wanted to offer something, words...a poem, anything to help. But you were doing so well; I quit worrying about you. I thought with all your family and friends and I knew you had a boyfriend, I thought it was going good for you." "I can't dance...I can't run...I won't be able to chase my babies around the park, if I ever have any." "College...?" "I start next semester, I graduate from High School pretty soon." "Aren't you excited about that?" "Yeah, I was, maybe I am, I dunno anymore...why did you bring me out here?" I kept pacing and kept silent. Why had I really brought her out here...well, I mean I knew, but who am I to interfere...to maybe change some ones life. Now I wasn't sure of anything. "Mr. Dean...?" "Janie...something happened to me here...something really strange. Can I tell you about it? I haven't told anyone." "Well, sure, I guess, I mean, well...I just don't understand...any of it." I stopped pacing and turned and looked into her face; the flickering candle light left moving shadows under her eyes and on her neck. She had leaned the walking stick against her leg and had her hands folded in her lap. "It's not all that bad is it? I mean what you want to tell me?" "Not bad, Janie, but very strange, frightening in a way and I am not sure I should tell you." "Go ahead. It's okay. You've made me feel better already, just wondering what the big secret is." So I told her, all of it; from when I first read the files and the FBI to the man who was cured of blindness. She gasped, "I know him...I heard about that...it's really true?" "I think so, yes." She shook her head slowly back and forth and readjusted her body in the uncomfortable chair. "Wow! Like a miracle or something?" "Yes," I answered slowly, "there is more." "More?" "Janie, a couple of months ago I decided to walk out here, instead of riding my bike. It tired me out; my legs were aching and I was getting short of breath. I made it into the house, over there to that table and I felt a pain in my chest and I couldn't catch my breath..." "Ohhh...Mr. Dean...that must have been terrible. What happened?" "I remember slowly leaning over the table and my forehead bumping and then my nose and that is the last I remember until the next morning." She stared at me and opened her mouth to speak but said nothing. I looked away from her. "I was flat on my back on the table, naked as a jaybird when I opened my eyes at the sunlight streaming in the window. I was startled, to say the least, as I tried to remember what had happened. Then I took a deep breath, I mean a really deep breath, something I have been able to do in years...and my whole chest felt different, lighter. I sat up, not the way I usually do, with a struggle and a groan to get old bones moving, but I sat straight up like a healthy young man full of vigor." "Ohhh..." "And, Janie...I could see...without my glasses. I have very bad eyesight, always have, since I was a kid, but I could see clearly everything in that room, sharp, clear, in focus." "You were healed! Cured of the heart thing and your eyes...and...oh, my..." "Do you believe in God, Janie?" "Of course I do! Well...I wondered why he has made me suffer so much. I wonder why I had to lose my..." She bowed her head as if in prayer. "I wonder why God did this to me. What did I do to deserve this?" She banged the walking stick on her artificial leg and then threw the stick to the floor and started crying and sobbing. I moved quickly to her, knelt down and put my arms around her and let her cry it out. It took several minutes for her to quiet down and sit up; I left my arms loosely around her shoulders as she looked into my eyes. "I know why you brought me out here." "Yes." "I'm scared, Mr. Dean, really scared." "I know." "About everything... I thought I could handle it. I can't. I don't want to be a cripple all my life. I just started living. I want to do so many things and now I can't." "You've done great and you know it. It's just a little let down, it was bound to happen." "That's what the shrinks said. I thought I was stronger than that, I thought I could beat it." I squeezed her shoulders and stood up before her and took a step back. "You are a very strong and courageous young lady, Janie, I admire you for how you have handled what happened to you." She was silent for several long moments before she sat up straight and sought my eyes. "Will you...can you...try to heal me?" "I can try, Janie, no guarantees. It's not me...it's those lights...they are not fireflies...something else...I don't know what." "I told my mom I was going with you. Will it take long?" "I don't know. I think I was on that table all night long." She reached into her purse. "I better call Raven and have her cover for me and I'll call my mom," she smiled..."we cover for each other." As she spoke on her cell phone I walked to the table and ran my hands across it. It was not a wooden table, nor plastic or fiberglass. It was thick, like four inches and the material was transparent with little flicks of color and sometimes, if the room was really dark, it seemed to glow. It was long and narrow, maybe seven feet long and four across. As I ran my hand over the table the 'fireflies' began to gather in the room. I think I felt them before I actually saw them. "They're here! The lights. Oh...I'm all goosebumpy all over!" She took the hand I reached out for her and moved cautiously to the table. "I don't have to take my clothes off, do I?" "I don't think so. I didn't; I just collapsed on the table." She took a deep breath; I could feel her quivering through her hand in mine. "I had so much pain...will it hurt? Oh, I hope not!" "I don't think so. I don't remember anything...no pain, no fear; but when I woke up, I don't know how to say, I felt happy and complete. It was a good feeling." "I trust you, Mr. Dean...ah, Wes, I can call you that? "Sure, that's fine. Are you ready?" "I...uh, I guess so. What do I do?" "Let me help you up on the table and see what happens." "Okay," she said in a very quiet little voice. She stretched out on the table, lowered her head and looked up at the ceiling but nothing happened. "Maybe I should take this thing off?" She rapped her knuckles on the fake leg. "Maybe..." She sat up and removed the prosthetic and handed it to me, I turned and placed it on the chair she had been sitting in. When I turned back I saw the glow of the lights at her foot and then at her head. "Something is happening, Janie!" She blinked and opened her mouth but just nodded and then closed her eyes. The silence in the room was broken only by her rapid breathing. I was holding my breath. The lights...the glow...moved slowly over her entire body and a good foot above and below and the tabled glowed beneath her. I listened as her breathing slowed and her face and body relaxed. The glow swirled and rippled and seemed to become thicker and moving in waves up and then back down over her. I stood watching for many minutes and then finally pulled the chair next to the table and sat heavily, watching every nuance, every motion of the lights. It was a good hour before the motion and movement stopped. I sat up and stared wide eyed as a glowing replica of the girl appeared off the table to my left. On the table the glow covered her body but not the space where her leg should have been. In the replica that turned slowly before me, both legs were where they should be. But...and I really stared...she had two left feet, the toe on the right foot was on the right side. I frowned and blinked and then removed my shoes, scooted the chair to the bottom end of the table and lifted my feet to the table, next to her feet. The lights swirled around and finally enveloped my feet leaving me with a tingling feeling for a long several moments and then faded. I slowly pulled my feet off the table and put my shoes back on. It took another hour or so before the image of her appeared again, off to the side. This time they got it right; she had her normal left foot and a matching right foot. I hesitated then reached into my jacket for the flashlight. I clicked it on and left it on for a count of three and then switched it off. The replica faded into nothingness and the light and the glow concentrated on her right leg above the missing part. It intensified and swirled and pulsed as I watched amazed until I could no longer focus my eyes. When I looked again, I gasped and drew in a deep breath as I watched her jeans and blouse fade away leaving her naked form at rest on the table beneath the iridescent glow. I turned away. It took a long time as atom by atom or molecule by molecule, I knew not which, began to gather and form beneath her knee. I shivered and stood up and went outside. I felt frightened and anxious and totally helpless and doubtful of what I had done. I smoked four cigarettes, one after the other, lighting the next from the last. I paced and thought and shivered in the chill and then again at the thought of what was going on inside that building. The missing leg now had an outline and a glowing center that vaguely resembled a bone. Her mouth was slightly open, her eyes moved behind closed lids and it seemed as though her face was softer and had a benign smile. Her body seemed to move slightly, undulating slowly or perhaps my eyes deceived me. Again, after watching for a while I had to go back outside again. I finally fell asleep in the chair next to her on the table. I awoke as I had before, to sunlight moving slowly across the room until it found my face. I blinked and rubbed my eyes, stretched and stood up. She was fully clothed again; the lights and the glow were gone. She appeared to be sleeping with a peaceful look on her face. I stood looking at her as the sun explored the room again. I reached out and slipped my fingers into the open palm of her hand. Slowly her fingers closed around mine and she took a long deep inhale and let the breath slowly flow out. "Oh, I had the most wonderful dream..." she spoke with her eyes closed, "I was running in a meadow and..." Suddenly she jerked her hand away and sat up with her arms crossed over her breasts and her hands over an open mouth. "Oh, my God!" I went quickly to her side and she flung both arms around me and clung tightly, gasping for air, her chest heaving. Fireflies, Immaculate Conception "It's okay, you're okay..." I tried to soothe her. "I didn't know where I was at first and then I remembered and I knew. Wesley, I'm afraid to look, did it work? What happened?" I kept holding her close until she relaxed her arms a slowly and cautiously raised and turned her head. "Oh, my God! It's there! My leg is there! I can feel it! I can move my toes! Oh, Wesley, Oh, God!" She burst into tears and sobs and flung her arms around me again and clung and cried until she could cry no more. The look on her face as she swung her legs over the edge of the table and gingerly placed weight on both legs was beyond description. A look a faith and belief and disbelief and wonderment and doubt and tears and smiles and nervous laughter as she clung to my arm and then let go, standing unsupported. She took a tentative step and then another and picked the artificial leg off the floor where I had left it. She cradled it in her arms, to her chest and lifted her eyes to me. "I don't believe it. How can I ever thank you? Oh, Mr. Dean, I don't know what to say." I cupped my hands around her cheeks and smiled down at her. "Your face says it all, Janie, it says everything." I traced my fingers along her forehead and the corners of her eyes. "You had two pain wrinkles here, and a bunch of little ones here and here." I said as I touched her. "They are gone." "Gone?" she exclaimed, "Gone?" "Gone; as in not there anymore. You look just as you did when I first met you two years ago, a lovely young girl." She pushed the artificial leg away from her and then pulled it closer to her face. "I can read the model number on the foot! I couldn't before...not without my reading glasses. Oh, Wesley, you fixed my eyes too! Oh, my loving God!" Tears welled up in her eyes again as she dropped the leg and clung to me. No one said a word...at least not to me, but I know she told her mother and a few other people in the market. I could feel it in the looks I got; not like before. I maybe should have done more...but what I saw...what happened...to her and to me, was beyond what my little mind could comprehend. So I set it aside, all of it, the lights, the old farm house, my daughter...I set it all aside and went back to work on the great American novel. I was even making some progress, after weeks of writer's block. I made my three times a week walk to the market, ate, drank, slept, wrote...did my normal routine for almost three months. There was a knock at the door and there she was. I didn't even think she knew where I lived, but there she was. "What a surprise!" I said, as I opened the door wider and invited her in. "Hope you don't mind?" she said. "Of course I don't mind. Can I get you something?" She smiled at me and all at once I knew. There is a certain healthy, complete glow about a gravid woman. I kept my lips together. "No, I'm fine. I just wanted to...see you...say hello...outside the market." I smiled a dorky smile and nodded, "Uh, okay..." I made an exaggerated look at her new leg and then focused on her eyes. "What's up?" "I'm gonna have a baby!" "Uh, okay..." I was searching for words, thinking why she would tell me...why she would tell me in this way. "Well...ah...congratulations! Guess you and your boyfriend got back together?" She gave me a look that I can only describe as a 'Madonna' look, not the pop singer, but the El Greco painting. There was a faint illusive smile on her lips. "I'm still a virgin." Well, I supposed you can see me blinking my eyes and feel me searching for words; none came. "The doctor did the test, I really am pregnant but he said a milkshake straw wouldn't fit...well, you know...down there..." Still no words came to me. "I'm three months along. Counting back, it happened when I was with you." Saucers would not describe how wide my eyes were. "I swear! I didn't touch you!" She reached a hand out and touched my cheek. "Oh, I know. It wasn't you. It wasn't any one." I could only shake my head and stare at her, wide eyed. "What are you saying?" She smiled, almost condescendingly down upon me. "The baby will be born almost exactly on Christmas Day." I still did not get the whole picture. "My name is Janie Marie, Jesus and Mary, don't you see?" My blink rate broke the machine. All I could do was shake my head, back and forth, again and again. She smiled. "I didn't think you would understand. My Pastor said it was the second coming of Christ. The Virgin Birth, the Immaculate Conception. I have been chosen." She smiled again and as she went out the door, turned her head and spoke over her shoulder. "I just wanted you to know." I didn't see her much after that, not for a while. The Church bought the adjacent piece of land to the old farm house. They took down the power lines separating the two properties; the lights would not or could not move under or anywhere near the magnetic field created by transmission lines. She...they...set up a clinic, a healing clinic, just down the road. The traffic got so bad they closed the road and built a new highway that curved around the old one. People had to make appointments and pay to see her and the 'lights that healed'. It became a National phenomena, TV crews, helicopters, evening news...another bleeding hand statue seen by little girls. Then it went all quiet as December thickened. When it was finally quiet, I walked across the meadow toward the flickering candle light of her clinic, her house, her stable and manger. She went the whole way. She smiled at me, huge in her final week. "I thought you might stop by..." "You're not the grocery clerk, high school girl I used to know." I tilted my head toward her. "I'm worth about twenty million dollars, they tell me." She matched my tilt and extended her hands palms up. "Who'da thunk it?" I grinned at her. "Not me for sure; I just wanted to help." "Aww, Wes, I know." She pulled the maternity skirt up over her right leg. "But...you made me whole again and I'll never forget." "Janie...I don't know how to ask this, but are you okay? I mean...how are you taking all of this?" "Taking it? I am God's child, the Mother of Jesus, I am the vessel of God's will; I am the luckiest woman in the world, I am fulfilled, I am in rapture and I am so happy, I only wish I could share it with you." I left her then, with the halo of light around her, the spotlights in the night beaming into the dark sky, the wise men hovering near, a nation, if not a world in waiting. When she gave birth, it was told, the midwives were dismissed and the stable was empty save the lowing of sheep and the hay in the manger. Maternal labor eased in a glow of golden light and a boy child with a perfectly healed umbilical came forth into the world, welcomed by all. Three weeks later I looked out my window to see a white robed figure moving gracefully towards my old farm house. She did not knock but pushed the door aside with a less or more than a Madonna look on her face and stood before me. "I remember...on that table...seeing you looking at me...I felt a rapture unlike anything I had ever felt before. I wanted to share it with you." She looked at me with a look I knew, wrapped her arms around me and took my thigh between her legs and buried her face in my neck. I went from Zero to a Billion in an instant and joined her rapture with the Stars and the Lights....