
French Still Life by Janet Webb
In the gloaming, children would flock to Thistleberry Farm, clutching jelly jars with punctured lids, to hunt for fireflies. The field, a flickering yellow-green sea of waist-high grass and wildflowers, was teeming with them.
One girl collected fireflies in a covered crystal jar. She believed they were Faeries. The other children, cruel little beasts, teased her relentlessly. They called her Fae, for “Faerie Girl”. But Fae, as she would forever be known, didn’t seem to mind.
Some people believe she became a Faerie herself when she died. They say, “She haunts the gloaming, Faerie Fae, dressed in eerie blue.”
~kat
99 Words for Rochelle Wisoff-Fields’ Friday Fictioneers Flash Fiction Challenge inspired by this photo by Janet Webb and Blue Ghost Fireflies*, a firefly found in the Southeast US that does not flicker but glows and eerie pale blue.
*From firefly.org:

Blue Ghost Firefly
Phausis reticulata also known as blue ghost fireflies. These tiny fireflies are common throughout the southeastern US and are known as the “blue ghost” because they do not flash but glow with an eerie blue or green light. Females of the blue ghost are pale yellow or white in color and lack wings (right in photo below). Males do have wings and can fly (left in photo below). Since they have not be studied extensively little is still known about them and their habits.
July 14th, 2017 at 5:46 am
Lovely story Kat 💜
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July 14th, 2017 at 6:30 am
Thanks Willow. 😊
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July 14th, 2017 at 12:21 pm
Pleasure 💖
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July 14th, 2017 at 5:48 am
I like that story, especially the ending allowing the possibility that Fae becomes faerie herself.
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July 14th, 2017 at 6:29 am
Thank you Penny. It was only the most fitting ending for one so devoted to her Faerie friends. ❤️
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July 14th, 2017 at 8:00 am
Absolutely delightful
Please click to read my FriFic
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July 14th, 2017 at 12:17 pm
Thank you Keith! I’ll have a peep! 😊
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July 14th, 2017 at 8:36 am
Dear Kat,
Isn’t it nice to see that in this day of technology, children still chase fireflies? Lovely story. I like to think she’s a faerie.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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July 14th, 2017 at 12:16 pm
Me too. I think she most definitely entered the faerie realm. As to firefly hunts, I hope this is true. We don’t see as many of them as we used to. But what would the gloaming be without them! 😊
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July 14th, 2017 at 10:38 am
Brava.. 🌷🌷🌷
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July 14th, 2017 at 3:36 pm
Thanks Dorna
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July 14th, 2017 at 1:05 pm
This gave an old wives’ tale kinda feel. I enjoyed it very much. Cheers, Varad
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July 14th, 2017 at 3:30 pm
Or folk legend. Thank you. I’m glad you liked it! 😊
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July 14th, 2017 at 5:07 pm
Lovely feel to this.
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July 14th, 2017 at 5:41 pm
Thank you. 😊
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July 15th, 2017 at 4:53 am
This is lovely 😃
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July 15th, 2017 at 8:09 am
Thank you. 😊
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July 16th, 2017 at 11:11 pm
What a wonderful summer ghost story!
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July 16th, 2017 at 11:27 pm
Thank you Dawn! 😊
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July 18th, 2017 at 4:53 am
Sweet!
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July 18th, 2017 at 6:26 am
😊
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