Fireflies - a Tale of Life and Death Read online

  “So?” his grandfather said, looking him straight in the eyes.

  Not knowing how to respond, Gabriel glanced out the window. After a while, his eyes flashed to his grandfather. As he found him still looking at him, they darted to the tall bookshelves by the fireplace.

  “You don’t say much,” his grandfather stated, leaning back in the armchair.

  Gabriel shrugged.

  “Why is that?”

  Again, Gabriel shrugged.

  Finding his glasses still on his nose, his grandfather took them off, playing with the earpieces as he spoke. “I have to say you look fairly bored. You haven’t really done anything since you got here, have you? I mean nothing neither your grandmother nor I have dragged you into?” He put his glasses with the book he had been reading. “What do you do at home?”

  “I play,” Gabriel said.

  “Play what?”

  “On the computer.”

  “I see,” his grandfather said, his forehead furrowing. “To tell you the truth, I don’t know anything about computers. I mean how does that work? What do you play?”

  Gabriel gave his grandfather a quick description of Candor, Andril and the people he knew there. As he spoke, he felt the fingers of his right hand itch for the feel of the mouse. In his mind, Gabriel could almost see the green hills of the lowlands as he had last seen them, pouring rain softening the ground and turning it into mud.

  “So, when you are in the game, you are Andril?” his grandfather asked. “And he does whatever you tell him to do?”

  Gabriel nodded, breathing more easily.

  “What is this Andril like? Is he like you?”

  Gabriel shook his head. “He’s better. He is brave, and he always knows what to do.”

  His grandfather frowned. “But if you tell him what to do, then aren’t you really the one doing it?”

  Gabriel frowned. “I don’t know. His world is so different. The people are different. I’m not really good with people.” His gaze turned to the window again.

  “I like going on adventures, too,” his grandfather said, leaning forward in his chair.

  Gabriel looked back at him. “Yeah?”

  His grandfather nodded, pointing at the tall bookshelves, every row filled with dozens of books of all shapes and sizes. “When I read, I dive into another world. One that I would never get to see in real life.”

  “Do you like it?” Gabriel asked, his fingers relaxing.

  “You kidding?” his grandfather laughed. “I love it. How else would I get to see the center of the earth? Or sail around the world? Or climb Mount Everest? In real life, I would have been dead many times over.” His laughter echoed through the room. “But sitting here, by the fire,…well, in winter at least…with a cup of tea and a book in my hands, I can go on any adventure I like and just as easily get back home.”

  “I wish I could stay there,” Gabriel said, looking at his hands. His hair fell in his face as he bent his head. “I wish I didn’t have to come back.”

  “You know, as much as I love diving into a new adventure,” his grandfather said, his voice resonating with a soft buzz. “There is nothing I’d rather do than come back home to your grams.” He looked around the room. “This is the best adventure in the world.”

  Lifting his head, Gabriel stared at his grandfather. When he blinked, a tear rolled down his cheek.

  His grandfather stood up then and walked to the door. Turning to look at Gabriel, he held out a hand. “C’mon, let’s find you an adventure that compares.”

  Chapter 4 – A First Step

  “There,” his grandfather said, pointing to the back corner of the garage. “I know it doesn’t look like much, but it’ll do.” Gabriel eyed the bike warily. “When your mother told us that you were going to spend the summer with us, I talked to Stan−he owns the hardware store on Market Street−and a day later, he brought it over.”

  The summer? Gabriel thought again, feeling a slight tremble run up his arms. “But…I don’t need it,” he objected, unsure what his grandfather had in mind.

  “Then how will you get around town? Believe me, this will come in handy.” Walking the bike outside, he looked at Gabriel. “Do you know how to ride? I mean, in the big city people don’t really have use for bikes, do they?”

  Gabriel nodded, remembering a time when his parents had still seen him. “Dad taught me. A long time ago.”

  “All right then.” His grandfather handed him the bike and went back to get his own out of the garage.

  “Why can’t we take the car?” Gabriel asked.

  His grandfather grinned. “To feel the wind in our faces.”

  At first, Gabriel felt a little unsure about his riding skills, but by the time they reached Market Street, he hardly paid any attention to what he was doing any more. His eyes wandered from one store window to the next, from sidewalk to sidewalk, taking in the people passing them on the street. To his surprise, they looked back at him, and he quickly turned his head. As he pedaled faster to keep up with his grandfather, Gabriel felt the wind brush the hair out of his face, and for a second he was reminded of Andril and Laran racing across the lowlands.

  A little farther down the street, he saw his grandfather stop at the hardware store. “What are we doing here?” he asked, leaving his bike next to his grandfather’s, and followed him inside.

  “Get a key made,” his grandfather answered as a man in his sixties, slender with a balding head but bushy eyebrows, appeared from the backroom. “Stan, this is my grandson.”

  “Nice to meet you. Your grandpa has been going on and on about you.”

  Shaking the man’s hand, Gabriel looked at his grandfather who grinned back at him.

  “You like the bike?” Stan asked.

  Gabriel nodded.

  “I’m glad,” he said, showing two missing teeth as he grinned. “What can I do for you?”

  “I need a copy,” his grandfather said, handing Stan a key.

  “No problem.” The two men disappeared into the backroom, leaving Gabriel to inspect the store and its contents. From tools for gardening and general home improvement to electronics and all kinds of handy gadgets, the store held a large selection. But no computers.

  As the bell over the door rang, Gabriel turned around.

  “I’ll be there in a minute,” Stan called from the backroom.

  “Take your time, Mr. Davis,” a boy in his early teens called. With bold eyes wide open, he looked at Gabriel, openly sizing him up. His light-blonde, shoulder-long hair was tied in the back.

  Letting his own hair fall in his face, Gabriel turned away.

  “You are the Warrens’ grandson, aren’t you?” the boy asked. “Gabriel, right?”

  Nodding, Gabriel wondered if he had seen him before. “How do you know?”

  The boy shrugged. “This is a small town, and if I’m not mistaken, my parents went to school with your mother, so…” Again, he shrugged. Then he came forward, holding out his hand. “I’m Edward Lawrence, pleased to make your acquaintance.”

  Gabriel frowned at the boy’s formal expression. Taking his hand, he replied, “Gabriel Scott, nice to meet you.”

  “So, how do you like it here?” Edward asked, leaning on the counter. “I imagine it is somewhat different from New York, isn’t it?”

  Still unsure how to respond, Gabriel nodded. “Smaller.”

  Edward laughed. “I bet it is.”

  The door to the backroom swung open, and Stan and his grandfather reappeared. “What can I…? Oh Eddie, it’s you. What do you need?” Stan asked.

  “See you later, Stan,” his grandfather said. “Hey, there, Eddie.” He turned to Gabriel. “Ready to go?”

  Gabriel nodded, and they left the store.

  Back at their bikes, his grandfather turned to him, about to say something, but then frowned. “Something wrong?”

  “Eh,…that boy, he was—”

  “Not like anyone you have ever met?” his grandfather asked, grinning from ear to
ear.

  Gabriel nodded.

  “I don’t really know what it is,” his grandfather said, shrugging his shoulders. “His dad’s a lawyer. From what I can tell it seems to be hereditary.” He laughed loudly.

  “He always talks like that?”

  “No, not at all. Sometimes he is just a regular kid.” A smile curled his mouth. “Maybe it’s his way of having an adventure.”

  “Maybe,” Gabriel said, feeling the ghost of a smile on his face.

  “By the way, this is for you,” his grandfather said, putting a key in his hand. “It’s to the front as well as the back door.”

  After looking at the tiny, silver object on his palm, Gabriel lifted his head. “Why?”

  His grandfather grinned. “So you don’t have to sneak out the window.”

  When Gabriel went to bed that night, the pillow under his head felt a little softer and his breath came a little easier. He still dreamed of Andril and his adventures, but every now and then, he recognized himself in the brave guide from Candor.

  ***

  Looking out the kitchen window, Gabriel saw Liam leave home every morning and only return when the sun dropped behind the horizon. And whenever he saw him, a smile shone on Liam’s face. Sometimes it looked excited, and sometimes it looked tired, but it always spoke of a great adventure expected or experienced. As soon as Liam disappeared around the bend in the road, Gabriel wondered where he was going and what he would do all day. A part of him wanted nothing more than to tag along while another was too terrified to even let that thought enter.

  One morning as the neighbors’ front door opened, Gabriel once again hung out by the window, peering across the fence. He stood on tiptoes, leaning over the sink to see.

  “Why don’t you go out and talk to him?” his grandmother asked, dropping a lump of sugar in her coffee.

  “What would I say?” Gabriel wondered, watching Liam go around back for his bike.

  “How about ‘hello’?” his grandfather suggested, looking up from his paper. “I heard it’s a common way to greet people.”

  A faint smile crossed Gabriel’s face.

  “Only those who go out into the world will find adventures. Those who peer through windows rarely do,” his grandmother said, winking at him.

  Turning from the window, Gabriel sunk against the counter. “Some kind of adventure, talking to someone. That’s no big deal.”

  “Start small,” his grandfather said. “No one starts out big. Take one step, and see if you feel like taking another.” He shrugged. “If not, try again tomorrow.”

  Looking at his grandfather, Gabriel took a deep breath and before his new-found courage could leave him headed to the door. In one swift motion, he opened it and stepped out onto the porch, took three more steps down the front stairs and walked onto the driveway just as Liam returned from the back yard, bike by his side.

  Clearing his throat, Gabriel opened his mouth. “Hello.”

  Liam turned his head. “Oh, hi. How are you?”

  “Good,” Gabriel answered, feeling his fingers curl up. Breathing in deeply, he forced them to relax. “Where are you going?”

  “To meet some friends,” Liam said as he came to stand by the fence. “The Bonfire is tonight, and we all got roped into helping out.”

  “Bonfire?”

  “Yeah, it’s a thing we do to celebrate the beginning of summer. You know, no school. Finally!” He smiled. “Are you coming?”

  “I…eh…I don’t go to this school.”

  “It’s for the whole town,” Liam assured, but then frowned. “Actually, I don’t even know if it started out as a school thing.” He shrugged. “We’ve just always used it to celebrate the end of the school year. You should really come.”

  Gabriel nodded, brushing the hair out of his face. “I’ll try.”

  “What about you?” Liam asked. “I guess it’s pretty boring for you here. Not much to do, he?”

  “Yeah, I kind of miss having a computer.”

  “You could go to the library. Down by Town Hall.” Liam pointed down the street, indicating a right turn at the end. “They got a couple of computers there.”

  Gabriel’s pulse quickened a little. “Thanks, I’ll do that.”

  “Hey, and if you’re still bored, I got something that’ll make you forget all about it because it’ll drive you insane,” Liam said, rummaging through his bag. “How are your language skills?”

  Surprised, Gabriel shrugged. “Okay, I guess. Why?”

  “Every year the seniors prepare a kind of scavenger hunt for the whole school.” Liam peered in his bag. “Oh, there it is!” he exclaimed, pulling out a note. “They come up with riddles that lead you all over town. On the last day of school, we get the first which then leads us to the next and so on, but, of course, only if we can figure it out, which we haven’t been able to do yet.” He handed Gabriel the note. “If you’re interested, be my guest.”

  Again, Gabriel felt his pulse quicken. It made him smile. “I’ll give it a try. Thanks.”

  Liam laughed. “Don’t thank me yet. These riddles seem simple, and they usually are, but for some reason−maybe we’re just really dumb or something−it’s always awfully hard to figure them out.” Liam shouldered his bag. “Oh, and no adult help.”

  Gabriel nodded.

  As Liam rode his bike down the street and then vanished from sight at the next turn, Gabriel looked down at the note in his hands. His lips moved as he read.

  I have seen the tides of time

  Each year farther into the sky I climb

  The winds of change color my cheek

  Like any of you I am unique

  I give a home to those in need

  On crumbs of bread they feed

  When I come to life in early spring

  I always listen to them sing.

  Feeling a slight tingle in his fingers, Gabriel went back inside, unable to tear his eyes from the words on the scrap of paper in his hands.

  “Was it worth it?” his grandfather asked as he saw him walk by the kitchen.

  Gabriel looked up and smiled.

  Chapter 5 – The Bonfire

  Riding down Market Street for the first time without his grandfather by his side, Gabriel’s hands gripped the handlebars tightly. His eyes stayed on the path ahead, and yet, he saw people turning to look at him. Some even started whispering, pointing in his direction. His grandmother had told him that they didn’t mean anything by it. They were just curious and interested. Although all the attention made him uneasy, Gabriel couldn’t help but feel a little pleased about it nonetheless.

  As he finally climbed the steps to the library, located two houses down from Town Hall as Liam had said, Gabriel felt his fingers tingle with anticipation. He was getting close. Entering the main area, whose visible ceiling beams ran from one end of the high room to the other, its walls lined with bookcases, it only took Gabriel a matter of seconds to spot the row of computers by the back wall under the white double-windows. It was as though they called to him.

  His feet started walking before Gabriel had even made up his mind. He kept to the long row of bookcases that cut the room in half, avoiding the open space in its middle where tables for reading and working had been grouped together. Most of those who sat there, books open before them, looked about his own age, maybe two or three years older. Some kept their eyes cast downward, reading, while others just stared straight ahead, not really seeing anything. And then there were a few, who kept whispering, eyes darting around. Gabriel could hear their voices even from a distance.

  Approaching the unoccupied computer closest to the row of bookcases he was following, Gabriel suddenly jumped as a raucous voice cut through the air. No one had really said anything though. It was only a long-drawn-out Shhhh.

  As he turned around, Gabriel easily identified the source of the sound as the town’s librarian. He bore a strong resemblance to Ms. Taylor. Narrow reading glasses tucked in the collar of his vest, hands on his hips, he glare
d at the offenders, who instantly closed their mouths and turned their heads back to the books in front of them.

  A shiver ran over Gabriel as he turned away and sat down at the computer without making a noise. He didn’t want that man mad at him.

  The familiar feel of mouse and keyboard instantly slowed his pulse to a steady rhythm, and his fingers flew over the keys as he logged on.

  In Candor, a lot had changed during his two-week absence. He learned that Laran had continued after the stranger on his own, but without a guide, who was familiar with the land, he had lost him in the marshlands. In the meantime, Gavin and Ran had tracked Yanir, the girl’s grandfather, to an abandoned mine. There, they had witnessed a secret meeting between him and another man, younger than Yanir, who bore a striking resemblance to the girl. From their conversation, Gavin and Ran concluded that the man was the girl’s father, though not Yanir’s son. Coins were exchanged, and once the meeting ended, Gavin and Ran split up, each following one of the two men.

  Meeting up with Laran, Gabriel had Andril guide the two of them back to the settlement Darkin lived in. They wanted to speak to the girl again, hoping she would be more forthcoming about why she thought her grandfather was a threat to her.

  As they rode eastward across the grassy plains, Gabriel’s thoughts returned to the scrap of paper in his pocket and the words written on it. With a start, he realized that for the first time the world around him had not disappeared the moment he’d entered Candor, and he wondered what had changed.

  Fishing the note out of his pocket, Gabriel traced the letters with his eyes, wondering what the answer might be. A flash on the screen then drew his attention. Laran was talking to him, waiting for his answer.

  Fingers returning to the keyboard, Gabriel followed an impulse. Sorry, but I need to go, he typed.

  Will you be back? came Laran’s reply.

  “I don’t know,” Gabriel whispered, staring at the note.

  ***

  Sitting at his mother’s old desk, Gabriel read through the riddle Liam had given him again and again. Top to bottom. Then he changed his approach and worked through it line by line. Liam was right. It seemed easy, and yet, it wasn’t.