“Morty, fly high,” said Michael Archangel.
“Is that all?”
“That’s all I can say. Just fly high.”
“Okay.”
Morty nosed Skye upward and leveled off just below some low clouds. Nancy hung onto Morty’s curl scared.
“This is higher than I’ve ever flown before,” she said. “Everything looks so small from here.”
“Look down,” said Morty. “Do you see the fire fly flashes everywhere?”
“How beautiful they look from above,” said Nancy, “Look over there.”
She pointed with her tiny front leg. Morty spotted what she saw. They were streaks of yellow light from fireflies flying in formations.
“That must be Luke,” said Nancy. “We found him. We found him.”
Actually, it was not Luke. It was Jaime, and his squadron. Ben ran into the yard. Morty and Nancy watched as he captured Jaime, and placed him into a jar. They also watched the beautiful formation break up as the squadron scattered to avoid capture. Just then, Morty spotted the very bright signal again.
Short, short, short; pause, long, long, long; pause short, short, short, then darkness. Ben’s friend grabbed at the light just after it went dark.
“That’s him,” shouted Morty.
“It’s Torch, the firefly whose signal I saw once before, he disappeared just as Ben’s friend went to grab him.”
“Hold on,” shouted Morty. He made himself and Skye invisible, and landed in the yard. He hopped onto Ben’s shoulder. Nancy clung to his curl. They peered into the bottle to look for Luke.
“He’s not in there,” said Nancy. “It’s not Luke.”
Next, Morty went to the boy who swiped at Torch. They looked in his bottle. Torch was not there either. Neither Morty nor Nancy saw the bright light.
“He must have escaped,” said Morty, “I missed him again.”
“Look up,” said Gracie, “there in the sky over the next yard.”
Morty spotted the light too. It was bright. It blinked the same way as before, short, short, short; pause, long, long, long; pause, short, short, short.
Morty pushed the turbo-blaster button. They streaked through the sky chasing Torch. Morty leveled off and slowed just as Torch began his dive toward the Phyros.
“Oh no!” said Nancy.
“What?”
“Look below,” she said, “Those are Phyros.”
“What are Phyros?” he asked. Torch dropped fast, and Nancy could see that the Phyros were ready for him. She lost her husband to the Phyros. Nancy knew, by the way they blink their lights. These fireflies were not as friendly as they looked.
“No time to explain, we have to rescue him, dive, dive, dive,” she screamed.
Morty nosed Skye downward and dropped fast, but Torch stayed ahead of him. Morty pushed the turbo button again. Everything became a blur. Morty leaned to his right, and held out his hand while he used the other to steer out of the dive. Skye pulled up just before hitting the grass. Morty caught Torch in the palm of his hand, and closed his fist around him just as Torch floated in front of the Phyros.
Skye soared upward with Nancy still clinging to Morty’s curl. Torch was safe in Morty’s hand. The Phyros below all flashed, and chased after Morty. They were very angry since they had lost a meal. The scooter leveled off and hovered above the Phyro yard. Nancy breathed more easily, now that they had flown out of the reach of the Phyros. Morty opened his hand to free Torch.
“Where am I? What happened?” asked the frightened Torch.
“Safe in Morty Angel’s hand,” said Nancy, “He just saved you from becoming a Phyro-burger.”
“I don’t believe it,” Torch exclaimed.
“Look down there,” she said. “See the Phyros swarming; Morty caught you just in time.”
“No, no, I don’t believe I found Morty Angel,” said Torch.
“It’s more like he found you,” she said.
“He did find me,” interrupted Morty, “if I had not seen his signal, and his bright light, I couldn’t have known who he was.”
“Thank-you for saving me Morty, I have a message for you.”
“I know. I found Stretch. He told me all about your work to find me to give me the message.”
“Can we go find Luke now?” asked an impatient Nancy.
“Of course,” said Morty. He moved Skye slowly through the air above the yards.
The three of them, Morty flying the scooter, Nancy and Torch resting on his curl, could see that the flurry of activity caused by the children had subsided. All the lightening bugs had shut off their lights to hide from the kids. I am sure Gracie helped with that, thought Morty to himself.
Ben and his friend had gone back into the house for the night. They were in Ben’s dark bedroom watching the fireflies in the bottle. A short time later, the friend’s father came to take him home.
Morty waited until the house went dark and everyone was asleep. He landed by the Arbor Vitae tree next to the house.
“It will be safe here,” he told Nancy and Torch, “Wait for me to come out. I’m going to set your friends free.”
The bedroom was quiet. Ben was asleep. Gracie lay on the pillow next to his head. The jar with the lightening bugs was on the dresser. The lid was on loose. A few of the beetles flashed dimly. Morty could hear them crying softly. Jaime clung to the underside of the lid looking for a way to get out. The bedroom window was open, and a cool breeze swept into the room. The curtains moved ever so gently.
Gracie was almost asleep when Morty entered. He put his hand gently on her shoulder not to startle her.
“Morty, what are you doing here? I thought you would be gone longer?”
“I’m here just for a moment,” he said. “I have some friends waiting for me outside. I came to free the fireflies.”
“Ben will be disappointed if they disappear,” whispered Gracie.
“I’ll make it look like they escaped,” said Morty.
“How will you do that?”
“Watch me.” Morty gently tipped the bottle on its side then turned the lid just a bit. The lid came off and fell next to the jar.
“Come out little beetles.” Jaimie, who was on the underside of the lid, was airborne and heading into the breeze that came from the window.
“Thanks,” he flashed to Morty. Morty blinked his halo in response.
“Go to the arbor vitae. Friends are waiting there.”
Morty lifted the screen further for the beetles to escape. One by one, the fireflies flew out to the arbor vitae. While they left, Morty told Gracie the whole story about Nancy, Torch, Stretch, and the Phyros.
“Gosh,” said Gracie. “You have been busy.”
“I have to go now. I have a special message to deliver, but I need your help to deliver it.”
Morty explained his plan to Gracie. He would be gone with the fireflies. She was to bring Ben to the patio behind the house on the night when there was no moon.
“Please have all of the house-lights out too,” he said. “It will make the delivery more special.” He blinked goodbye then disappeared into the night.
To Be Continued . . .
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Filed under: Cartoons, Characters I knew, children's writers, family, Fire Fly Air Force, Garden, Warm and Fuzzy, Writer | Tagged: Gracie, Lightening Bug, Lucerne, Michael Archangel, Morty Angel, Phyro, S-O-S | Leave a comment »
