Chapter 20
The air force arrived, just as Ben came out to the patio. They had hundreds of squads now. All because a single firefly had a dream to be the best that he could be.
Luke led the squads into the yard. All taillights blinked in unison. The sky sparkled with thousands of flashing yellow lights. It was a magical evening. Luke’s show went for most of the evening. First, the squads flew by the patio in a single file. Each pilot followed the other in a magnificent spiral. Next, they flew up to the rooftop with their light out. On a signal, all the squads began a spiral dive with lights blinking.
They looked like a waterfall of light. The waterfall transformed into a giant spiral. The leader flew up in a large arc, and then turned downward ever so slowly. He swooped downward in the same arc, picking up speed. At first, it looked like he would crash into the fliers that were waiting at the bottom.
Flash started to turn inward a foot above the waiting line. He continued the arc inward and upward to form a second loop inside the first. Each time he finished a loop he tightened it, and formed a new one. He flew faster as he did. When he reached the center of the spiral, he turned off his light and disappeared. The string of fliers followed him. They landed to rest.
Morty flew into the yard, just as the giant spiral began to shrink in size. The last of the fliers spiraled into the center and turned off his light. He sat down between Ben and Gracie.
“Where did you take them?” asked Gracie.
“I took them far enough away that they won’t bother Luke, Nancy, or the Lucerns anymore.”
“You are just in time for the finale.”
“Great,” said Morty, “I want to see the look on Ben’s face when he gets the message from heaven.”
Luke assembled the fliers for a talk while they rested and sipped nectar.
“You did a marvelous job this summer,” he lectured. “We had fun and learned how to fly in new ways. Soon you will all return to your families to prepare for the winter. Before we do that, we have to deliver a very important message for Morty Angel. He trusts us with the job.
It took Torch all summer to find him. Torch delivered the message from God. Now Morty wants us to deliver it to Ben. You can do it. You are ready.”
Luke gave the sign and all the fliers scurried into position, each squad in place behind its leader.
“Torch, “said Luke. “ Give us the light.”
Torch flew straight up into the center of the yard, and blinked his light three times. On the third blink, the squads all rose like helicopters. They peeled off behind Luke with their lights off. When the entire force was in place, Torch blinked again. Luke turned on his light. As he flew, the squads followed in single file. Each flier turned on his light at the exact same spot. The effect was a line of lights. Luke was the tip of the pen, his fliers the ink. He flew slowly and deliberately. He turned in a loop then back into another.
Ben watched from the patio in amazement as the letters of light appeared in the sky over the yard.
“Mom, Dad,” he shouted, “Come out quick.”
“What is it?” asked his mother. Dad ran out to see what the commotion was.
“Look in the sky in the back of the yard, the fireflies.”
They watched in amazement as the line of lights continued to form letters. Slowly the letters became words. . .
“GRANDMA LOVES YOU.”
“There it is,” said Morty. “God sent Ben a special message, and he used his creatures to do it. He also gave me a wakeup call.”
“How,” asked Gracie?
“Normally, He tells Michael the Archangel to send me instructions. This time, he used another route. At first, I missed the signal, and Torch had to keep looking for me all summer. I saw his signal weeks ago. Remember, how they taught us at the academy, that God works in mysterious ways. Sometimes, he sends us signs, and we are not alert enough to recognize them.”
Luke and the fliers hovered in place blinking their lights to keep the message alive for as long as they could. Eventually, they tired and their lights began to dim, one by one. Torch sent a series of flashes to let them know they were finished. The air force scattered around the yard into a mystical display of twinkling lights everywhere.
“Mom, Dad, did you see it?”
“Yes, it was beautiful.”
“Please come in now, it’s getting late,” said Dad.
Ben followed them.
“Thanks Gracie,” said Morty. “I couldn’t have delivered the message without your help.”
“It was my pleasure.”
“Before you leave, I have another thing to do,” said Morty.
To Be Continued . . .
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>><<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form or by any means, including those yet to be invented or discovered, without permission in writing from the publisher and author.
Filed under: Cartoons, Characters I knew, children's writers, Fire Fly Air Force, Garden, Warm and Fuzzy, Writer | Tagged: Angel, Firefly, God, Grandma, Heaven | Leave a comment »
