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.