“Aloud, please, speak aloud,” Bree snapped impatiently.
“Yes, they made a pair of rhinos, but I don’t know about the fated part,” he murmured making sure not to let his eyes stray to Bash.
Soren
Because the meeting was held outside of Cookietown, Arlington had brought him along with Taggart, though Soren had pleaded upon arrival to be allowed to remain outside. He wasn’t the only Little who hadn’t wanted to go in. Several others had formed a small circle, with a storyteller at the center, trying to lessen their stress by weaving a fantastic tale.
It took him a little time to scamper over, as his fear of strangers was strong. Except the story of the two-horned rhino, who kept getting his horns stuck in things, made him giggle, and finally Soren decided to join them.
“Who wants to hear a story about a wayward firefly and the three tiny tigers he led on a merry chase through the jungle?” the storyteller asked.
“I do. I do!” one little piped up.
Several had wiggled apart to make space for him, making Soren’s little oxpecker happy. He clapped and called out, “I do.”While his inner oxpecker tweeted happily.
“Well, all good stories start at the beginning, and in the start of this story our little firefly has flittered far away from the others, blinking and flashing, looking for the perfect place to sit and sparkle where he’d be the only beautiful thing in sight,” she explained in a hushed tone. “You see, our little firefly was a proud, vain creature who didn’t like that there were others whose sparkle was as bright as his. He wanted to be the only pretty glow bug in the jungle, and soon he found a spot where he could be just that.”
“Why couldn’t they all sparkle together?” a Little to Soren’s left piped up.
He smelled like he was a kitty cat, which was a little bit terrifying, though not as scary as the big cat smell that had lingered on Arlington and Taggart when they’d come home from Taggart’s storage unit. That scent held an edge of vicious malice to it, and Soren hadn’t been able to fully settle down until they’d washed it off. In fact, as soon as they’d stripped out of the clothes they’d been wearing, Soren had tossed them and the rest of the laundry into the washing machine with extra scent beads to get rid of the smell for good.
“It’s always pretty to see a field of wildflowers with fireflies twinkling over them,” another Little added, a dreamy sound to her voice. She was across the circle, sitting with a big smile on her face. “Everything looks magical that way.”
“That it does, little one,” the storyteller beamed. “But you’ll find that it took a very scary moment before our wayward firefly realized that.”
“Does he get in trouble?” another Little asked.
“Oh, you could say that,” the storyteller answered, her eyes twinkling with amusement. “You see, while he may have found the perfect place to blink his light on and off as the sky grew dusky, that little light of his also caught the eye of three little tigers who’d wandered away from their mother in order to explore the surrounding jungle. Crouched low and creeping through the tall grass, they stalked the light, getting closer and closer to where it proudly twinkled.”
“Oh no!” someone called out.
“Oh no is right,” the storyteller said back in a hushed tone. “Kitties are curious by nature, and our little firefly was doing his best to outshine even the stars that began to appear overhead. The nearer they crept on silent paws, claws digging into the earth, allowed them to get into the perfect position to pounce.”
“No pouncing!” the little girl across the circle called out. “They might crush him.”
“That was exactly what the little firefly feared when the first striped kitty leapt out with a loud mew, trying its best to roar. If it had been a big roar, it would have scared the glow out of our little firefly, but he was too cocky to be scared at first. He finally had the audience he wanted. So he flittered higher and blinked his light on and off, taunting the little tiger, until the next blur of orange and black launched itself at him.”
“This is a scary story,” the kitty beside him whispered and scooted closer to Soren, who was worried for the firefly too.
“Only a little,” the storyteller assured them. “I promise things turn out alright for the baby tigers and the wayward firefly in the end.”
“Yay!” someone else called out, making several others giggle and clap.
“Now, our firefly avoided the second pounce and flew, blinking and laughing, teasing the tigers, when he realized how clumsy they were on their little paws. He was having such a good time playing keep away, he never noticed that there was another little tiger hidden in the grass. This one wasn’t as eager to exhaust himself with pounce after pounce. Instead, she waited patiently while her brothers crushed the grass around them trying to get at the infuriating bug.
“Unaware of how much danger he was in, the little firefly zigged and zagged, twinkling his little light, encouraging them to continue the game. Until a rush of air hit him right before a paw sent him spinning onto a nearby water lily. Blinking, he clung to the inside of the lily, finally realizing the danger he’d placed himself in. Without other fireflies around to blink and sparkle and distract the kitties, he was their only target, and kitty cats see very well in the dark.
“Not only that, but they weren’t afraid of the water and had no problem wading in, coming at his lily from different sides. Desperate, he took to the air, blinking his little light rapidly, distressed and calling for help from the other fireflies, only there were none around to see him.”
“Bet he misses his friends now,” the little kitty beside Soren said, while Soren nodded his head in agreement.
It reminded him of when he’d been huddled in the wallow's hole alone, missing everyone he’d known and wishing he’d stayed with them rather than running away when trouble came for him. Creatures really were stronger together, which he knew was the point of the meeting inside. He’d have to get with the program and stop avoiding the scary things Arlington and Taggart were facing, so they didn’t feel like they always had to shield and protect him from everything.
“Out of the water and back into the jungle, they chased him, no longer stalking, they ran and tumbled, tripping occasionally over their paws in their haste to finally nab him. Zigzagging he flew, growing tired, his light steadily blinking out a frantic SOS as he searched for other fireflies. That’s when the most frightening thing happened. He found himself pressed to the ground, claws on either side of him, as one tiger finally pinned him down and huffed, its nose dripping on him as it sniffed its little captive. The light went out of the firefly then as he expected to be eaten, only to find himself wet and soggy when the tiger licked him instead.”
“Yay! He didn’t get eaten.”
“No, he did not,” the storyteller announced. “But fireflies can’t fly with wet wings, and his were very wet by the time the kitty was through with its inspection. Fortunately for him, a loud roar in the distance soon sent all three tigers scampering away, as their mama had come searching, demanding that her cubs return to her side. As they fled, the little firefly lay dusty andcovered in slobber, one antenna slightly bent as he lay there waiting to dry off enough to fly.
