New free fiction – Glowbugs, by Emily Dow

Brand new fiction this week from Emily Dow – and we’ve also just published a new fantasy novella: Rice Mountain, by Sam Fletcher. Plus Wyldblood 19 is out now with nine great new science fiction and fantasy stories.

Glowbugs

Emily Dow

Hours had passed since we first set up camp, and by now the sky had darkened from its typical warm, yellow glow to a pitch-black night. It was dark, it was cold, and yet despite all I’ve had to endure, I whispered to Myra as I snuggled in closer, I’m really glad we made this trip.

The sleeping bag made it tricky, but after a minute of wrestling with the fabric, Myra managed to put an arm around me and squeeze. “Aww, baby,” she teased. “Is it your undying love for me that’s keeping you warm?

I snorted. “Who said it was for you?” I asked. Then I sighed, dropped my voice to a sultry croon, and declared where my true feelings lay. “I’m in love with them,” I said, as I pointed upwards. I watched Myra’s face closely as she followed my hand to the sky, which currently wasn’t much to behold all by itself. The clouds, which were once so pink and lovely, had transformed into ugly, intrusive shadows that kept us from seeing the stars.

But we didn’t need the stars. We had glowbugs.

It looked as if there were hundreds of them swirling around us, their spots—and if there really were hundreds of them, then there must have been thousands of those—lighting up our campsite with their multicolored glows.

I watched those rainbow lights dance through the reflection in Myra’s eyes, and it was the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen. “They’re aliens, did you know that?”

“Yeah?” She exhaled softly, still transfixed. “How do you know?”

“Uhh…” I tried to remember where I heard that. “I think they did a study on them,” I explained. “This was a few years ago, and I guess the scientists found some DNA or something that doesn’t come from here.”

Myra sat up straighter. “So, where do they come from?”

Again, I pointed to the sky. “They come from above,” I intoned, then giggled. “Some far-off planet, where the sky is purple instead of yellow and they only got two suns instead of three, who knows?” Out of the corner of my eye, I saw two glowbugs circle around each other, lights flashing, and smiled. “I bet they shine even brighter there, too.”

“No way,” Myra said, and she shook her head to prove it. “I refuse to believe that. Just look at them.” Her hand joined mine in the air, and I laced my fingers through hers. She was right; the glowbugs were especially bright tonight.

“It’s good luck to see them glow, you know,” I told her.

“So?” She laughed, then gestured for me to continue. “Go!”

“They only show,” I said, just to finish the rhyme. “I mean, they only shine when they’re around people who are in love. And—” I gazed up at the sky— “for every spot that lights up, that means one more love-filled year for that lucky couple to look forward to.”

I looked back towards Myra, who was still looking up. “Look,” she whispered, as she brought our clasped hands closer. A glowbug was perched on the very tip of her index finger, and it was glowing bright. Together, we watched as it crawled from her hand to mine, sat there for a moment, and then took off in a rainbow streak.

“So?” Myra whispered. “How many years of luck was that?”

Our eyes met, and I didn’t answer. When we kissed, we glowed, and that was all we needed.

                                      

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Emily Dow enjoys writing and reading speculative fiction of all kinds. She has never met the Loch Ness monster.

more stories here

                                      

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