Fire Fly Air Force-Chapter 9

Posted on 09/08/2010 by Grumpa Joe

Chapter 9

Three days passed since Nancy left the forsythia bush. Celia told her it would be a long hard journey. Nancy did not believe her. Now, she began to tire. She was still two days away from Luke. Her light was losing its glow. Her wings flapped slower than they did in her youth. I have to see Luke before the summer ends, she told herself. I will rest and eat. I must be ready to travel tomorrow.

She landed next to a pond on the leave of a Lady’s Mantle. Beautiful dewdrops adorned the leaves. Nancy took a long refreshing sip of dewdrop. That is good, she thought, and then she fell asleep. (1-Nancy Flies Up)

It was dark, humid, and warm when Nancy awoke from her nap. She drank some more nectar from the dewdrop and felt much better. Maybe I can fly a little bit further tonight. I have to see Luke soon. I miss him so much. She rested a little longer between the dewdrops. She saw the reflection of the night sky above. A star twinkled in the sparkling globes of dew. Her mind shifted to the message that Torch asked her to spread as she traveled, “Find Morty Angel.”

A yellow flashing light twinkled in the dewdrop next to her. It broke her concentration on the message. What is that? It looks like a firefly tail light, but it is not, I cannot tell for sure.

Automatically, Nancy took off and flew straight toward the light. I have to get closer. She flew right up to the light, but did not see a lightening bug. It is a ring of light. The light was larger than any she had ever seen before. Nancy flashed her tail light in response. Nothing happened, so she began blinking in synch with the mystery light.

Morty looked up at his curl and spotted Nancy’s flashing light. He made himself visible. That frightened her, and she automatically dived into the grass below.

Her spiraling dive caught Morty’s attention. He hovered above Nancy. She remained quiet. Her tiny heart pounded with fright. Her tail light went dark.

Morty circled slowly then landed nearby. He walked to where he last saw Nancy and blinked his halo to attract her attention. Morty knew how to talk to fireflies with his blinking light.

“I am your friend, I am sorry I frightened you.” He knew he frightened Nancy when he made himself visible. He saw her reaction, and her spiraling dive into the grass. The dive was the fanciest maneuver he had ever seen. (2-MA-Talks to Nan)

Nancy read the message in his blinks, and calmed down. Morty crawled on his hands and knees across the grass. He continued to flash his message. Nancy finally built enough courage to respond with a weak blink.

“I accept your apology,” she blinked

“I’m Morty Angel.”

“WHO?”

“I’m Morty Angel.”

“Thank God. We’ve been looking for you all summer.”

“Me? How is it that you know who I am?”

Morty gently picked her up, and placed her into the palm of his hand.

“I can’t believe that I found Morty Angel. Can we speak without the lights?” she asked, “I’m getting tired.”

“Of course.”

God gave Morty the ability to talk with all creatures. Therefore, speaking to Nancy either by voice or by halo was easy for him.

Nancy told Morty everything she heard from her the ladybug. She explained how Torch was sending a message from the high bushes in every yard he visited.

“I know,” he said, “I saw his signal, but didn’t think it was for me. It finally dawned on me today.”

“You saw Torch’s signal?”

“Yes, and I was looking for him, when we crossed paths.”

“I can tell you exactly where he is, and then I have to find my son Luke.”

Morty asked Nancy about Luke and she told him all about the Firefly Air Force. She was proud of her son’s accomplishment.

“Wait for me, and I’ll help you find Luke, but first I have to find Torch

“I’ll wait Morty, it’ will give me a chance to recover some energy.” Morty got on Skye and followed Nancy’s directions to find Torch.

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: , , , , , | Leave a comment »

Fire Fly Air Force-Chapter 8

Posted on 08/08/2010 by Grumpa Joe

Chapter 8

Summer is passing quickly, thought Morty. Here it is the end of July and Ben still  has not finished his project. What can I do to get him moving, he asked himself?

Each day, Morty watched over Ben like a hawk. He had not taken a day off in weeks. Maybe I should take a break and visit some friends, he thought.

The Sentra Vision belt around Morty’s waist vibrated and tickled his tummy.

      “Hello.”

      “Hi Morty,” answered Gracie. She just returned from a visit to heaven.

      “How was your trip? I missed you.”

      “It was absolutely heavenly as usual. I visited all of our friends at the Angel Academy, and talked to Archangel Michael too.”

      “Did Michael have any messages for me?”

      “No, but he did say that he will give you a mission soon. He asked me to find out how Ben’s science project is coming along.”

      “How does he know about the project?

      “I didn’t ask him, and he didn’t tell me, I just thought it was something the two of you cooked up together.”

       The halo above Morty’s curl lit up. A vision appeared in his head. All summer something he saw was bothering him, but he could not figure it out. Now the picture was clear. He had to act.

      “Will you do me a favor?” he asked.

      “Of course, what is it?”

      “Watch Ben tonight while I take a break?”

      “Yes,” she said, “I still have some days before my next assignment.”

      “Good, please come to Ben’s house this evening.”

      “I’m on my way,” she answered and hung up.

      Gracie arrived as the sun was setting. She found Morty on Skye Scooter ready to go. He gave Gracie a few instructions, pushed a button on Skye, and then disappeared.

          The sunset this evening was beautiful. Only a few scattered white clouds hung over to reflect the light. The sun was a big red ball just above the horizon. A glow of bright pink and lavender colors spread across the sky, reflecting off the clouds. Some clouds were luminescent with orange on one side and shades of grey on the other.

      “I hope it is not too late,” he thought to himself. Morty cruised from yard to yard. As he flew, he kept his halo blinking. He was invisible except for his halo. All of the neighbors mistook his blinking halo for the light of a firefly. I cannot believe it took me this long to figure it out, he thought to himself.

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, family, Fire Fly Air Force, Garden, Warm and Fuzzy, Writer | Tagged: , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

Fire Fly Air Force-Chapter 7

Posted on 07/08/2010 by Grumpa Joe

Chapter 7

          The Firefly Air Force grew larger every night. Luke split the training. It was too much for one firefly to handle. He gave Lennie and Jaime a squadron of fireflies to train. Each squadron practiced separately. At the end of the week, Luke called a meeting with Lennie and Jaime.

      “Are your squadrons ready for some games?”

      “What kind of games?”

       Luke explained that each squad would fly in front of the insect audience. By now, thousands of insects gathered in the lawn every night. They crawled all over the shrubs and trees to get a view of the Firefly Air Force practicing their aerobatics.

          Each squad leader taught his fliers the same maneuvers that Luke taught them. They flew straight up in spirals then they dived down toward the ground pulling up just before crashing. They flew in vee-formations, in straight lines, or stacked one on top of the other. All the time their lights blinking or holding steady.

          The three squads competed every week. Their show became better each time. The insect crowds were getting larger too. It was not very long before the insects ate most of the lush vegetation around the show. Soon word got out that the Gardener was upset. The many insects damaged his plants. A Japanese beetle spread the word to everyone that he heard the Gardener say the word “spray.”

          Panic ran through the insect world. A spray would kill thousands of families. Some bugs packed up and moved immediately. Others decided to ride out the storm. They were not going to leave their homes because of a “little spray.”

          Torch heard the rumors too. He began to panic. He had not found Morty Angel and the summer was ending, and now the threat of the spray hung over him. Soon, Torch and the fireflies would disappear until next summer. His new friend Stretch will tunnel deep into the earth to escape the cold, and he will not be able to deliver the message to Morty Angel.

          The vibrations kept coming to Stretch every day. First, it said, “Find Morty Angel,” then it changed to “find Morty Angel and give him the message.” Now it was “This is God, I have a message for Morty Angel.” When Stretch told Torch, he became excited. He became so excited

that his tail light blinked the brightest flash ever. It always blinked extra bright when he was nervous. The bright light caught Stretch off guard. It frightened him. He snapped back into his hole afraid to come out. Stretch did not appear again until the next night.

      “Is it safe to come out? Your light is too bright for me.”

     “Yes, please come out, is there anything new?”

     “Yes,” replied Stretch as he pulled his tail free from the hole, “The vibrations are very clear. I know what the message is.”

     “What is it?”

      “What was that,” asked Stretch? “It is thunder. A storm is coming. Let’s take cover while I explain what the message is.”

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, children's writers, family, Fire Fly Air Force, Garden, Warm and Fuzzy, Writer | Tagged: , , , , , , | 1 Comment »

Fire Fly Air Force-Chapter 3

Posted on 03/08/2010 by Grumpa Joe

Chapter 3.

Morty Angel took his job seriously. He watched over Ben. God gave him the job, and he wanted to please God with his performance. Whenever Morty needed to leave Ben to go on a special mission, he placed his friend Gracie in charge. When Gracie was busy, he called Max.

On this day, Morty was in charge. He enjoyed watching Ben grow into a beautiful young lad. Ben kept Morty on his toes because he is so smart. Often, Morty had to ask Michael the Archangel for the answers to Ben’s homework. Morty never gave him the answers, only hints. Often, Ben knew the answers but Morty did not. That is when Morty asked Michael for help. As Ben grew in knowledge, Morty’s knowledge increased also.

School was out for the summer, and Morty loved it. He and Ben did fun things together. Of course, Ben never knew when Morty was right there with him because he remained invisible. In the evenings, both Ben and Morty loved to watch the fireflies. Ben called them lightening bugs. He and his friends played in the yard after dark capturing lightening bugs. They put them in jars. Ben loved to watch the beetles light up.

Together, they tried to fill a bottle with tiny yellow lights to make a lantern. The beetles are easy to catch because their taillights give them away. Even when they turn off the light, it continues to glow for a few seconds.

Morty spotted a beetle in the back of the yard with a very bright light. It flashed differently from all of the others. The flashes were bright, and in a distinct pattern; short, short, short, pause, long, long, long, pause, short, short, short. The flashes kept coming in the same pattern; short, short, short, pause, long, long, long, pause, short, short, short. “How odd,” he thought to himself.

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: Characters I knew, children's writers, Fire Fly Air Force, Garden, Gardening, religion, Warm and Fuzzy, Writer | Tagged: , , , , , | Leave a comment »

Fire Fly Air Force-Chapter 1

Posted on 01/08/2010 by Grumpa Joe

This is a serialized version of a book written by Grumpa Joe titled Fire Fly Air Force. It has a special message for young and old.

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.

Dedication

To  Grampa Jim, the only grandparent I ever knew, and to the grandparents I never had the opportunity to meet.

===================++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++===================

Chapter 1

Bugs fill the world. Bugs, or insects as we know them, all have a purpose in the grand scheme of life. The ecology needs bugs. A gardener knows that when he plants a flower or vegetable, a specific bug will attack it, and eat it. Other bugs attack different bugs for food.

Bugs provide food for birds and mammals too. They help to break down organic matter to speed decomposition. A healthy forest, for instance, depends on many bugs to keep it growing and thriving. Trees depend on organic matter for their nourishment, and the bugs help produce organic matter.

This story is about a beetle. The beetle’s name is Luke. Luke is a firefly or lightning bug. His real purpose in the ecology is unclear, but Luke eats nectar and other insects.

Fireflies have a very special talent. God gave them a unique chemistry to create light. Luke can excite chemicals in part of his body to make a bright yellow light. On summer nights, Luke and his relatives flash their lights. Luke’s yellow flashes are signals to his friends. Flashing is Luke’s way to communicate.

It was June when Luke was old enough to strike out on his own. Until this time, he spent his chid hood in the ground as a glow worm. Now, his wings were finally strong enough to fly. Luke tried very hard to fly.

He practiced often. Each time he got a little closer to lifting into the air. After several nights of trying, he finally flew.

While he was learning to fly, he was also learning about his tail light. His body had all the chemicals to make the light work, but he didn’t know how to turn it on. From the time he emerged from the larval stage, his body glowed with a weak yellow light. As an adult he could make his body flash a bright yellow light.

One evening Luke took off for a practice flight. He hadn’t flown very high yet, not like his older friends. They seemed to fly to the sky. Luke stayed close to the ground and the safety of the grass. On this night, Luke was determined to fly as high as his friends. Up, up, up he went. He wanted to reach the top of the tall bush. Every time he practiced, he used the bush to measure how high he flew. The bush also served as a safety net. If he got tired, he could land on a branch and rest. This time he pushed harder and harder. He kept reaching higher. He could see the top of the bush. Yes, he was nearing the crown. Luke never saw the crown before. The young lightening bug didn’t know what he would do when he got there, but he wanted to reach the top. His wings were tiring, but he continued to push. Yes, he could see over the top now, and the dark starry sky above. He had to rest, and landed on a leave at the very peak of the bush. His friends spotted him, and blinked their lights in approval.

Luke was excited and happy. He reached his goal to fly to the top of the bush. In his excitement he forgot his light. His heart was beating fast. One of Luke’s friends buzzed by, blinking his tail light as he passed. Luke was still breathing heavy when he flapped his wings in approval. As he did that, his tail light began to glow. At first it was just a faint glimmer. Suddenly, Luke knew how to turn his light on. He took a deep breath then flexed his wing muscles again. His light came on. This time, the glow was brighter. He did it over, and over, and over, until his light was as bright, and beautiful as any of his friends.

The next night Luke was confident that he would join his friends. His flying improved and he could make his tail light blink brightly. He now knew how to switch the light on and off whenever he wanted. Tonight, he would have fun with his friends, Lenny and Jaime. Lenny buzzed him from the top of the bush last night. Jaime sent him flashes from above too.

Luke stepped off the blade of grass that he used as his launch pad. His wings fluttered and he spiraled straight up, to the top of the bush and landed. Lenny was there to greet him. Jaime buzzed both of them with his tail light flashing. Luke and Lenny launched and joined Jaime in flight. Together they spiraled up, dipped, then spiraled up again. They followed each other’s flashes. Sometimes they kept their tail lights dark to hide from each other. Luke became better and better as the night passed. His light was brighter than his friends. He made maneuvers that they couldn’t make. It became clear to Lenny and Jaime that Luke was special.

To be Continued. . .

Filed under: Cartoons, Characters I knew, children's writers, Fire Fly Air Force, Garden, Gardening, Writer | Tagged: , , , | Leave a comment »

« Previous Page