Firefly Date (Lucien)

To thank Lucien for helping out with our show Miracle Finder, I agreed to hang out with him this weekend. I arrived at the exhibition center ten minutes early, feeling inexplicably nervous. Surprisingly, Lucien was already there, waiting.

Lucien: Hi, Renad.

Renad: Hey! Have you been waiting long? Sorry...

Lucien: It's my fault for being too early.

Renad: Right....

Lucien pressed a pamphlet into my hand. The cover read "Heirs of Light".

Lucien: Let's go.

As soon as we walk in, green specks of light flickering in the darkness immediately grabbed my attention. There are photos of various fireflies species on exhibit. In the center is a long corridor simulating firefly lights.

Renad (Delighted): So by "Heirs of Light", they mean fireflies!

Lucien: Do you like stars?

Renad (Nodding): ...

The corridor is lit up with fireflies, making it resemble a starry summer sky.

Lucien: Some like to believe that fireflies are stars too, but on the land instead of in the sky.

Renad: Stars on land... that sounds romantic.

Lucien: But behind the romance, there are lots of hidden truths no one ever hears about.

Renad: Hidden truths?

Lucien: We humans are always attracted to shiny things and ignore everything else.

Renad (Contemplatively): Yeah, I actually have no idea what fireflies look like without their lights.

Lucien: That's true for fireflies, and true for humans as well. We only see a person's most prominent quality. As for the rest of their qualities... They become overlooked blind spots.

Renad: That's why it's hard to truly know a person, I guess.

Lucien: That's right. What interests me the most happens to be these rarely noticed qualities.

Renad: It requires luck and patience to truly understand someone.

Lucien: Luck and patience, yes. But you also need to be really motivated.

Renad: Right...

Lucien: I've studied a lot of people. However, there's been only one I'm truly motivated to learn more about.

Renad: And who would that be?

Lucien: sorry... I can't tell you yet.

Lucien flashed me a tight-lipped smile.

Lucien: Come on, the exhibition is starting.

We walked on, following the signs in the venue. A mother-and-son duo passed by. The boy was clutching a jar that held a glittering firefly.

Little Boy: It's so pretty, Mommy! Let's keep it as a pet!

Renad (staring at the jar): So they sell live fireflies in this exhibition too?

Following the crowds, we ended up in the corner of the building, where bottled fireflies were sold.

Vendor: Get your fireflies here! keep it in your home as a good luck charm!

My face fell seeing those poor fireflies trapped in jars.

Renad: Are they sleeping? They look rather drowsy...

Lucien: They're not sleeping. They are on the verge of dying, in fact.

Renad: ....!

Lucien: They can't survive in jars for long. It's not their natural habitat.

Renad: The purpose of the exhibition was for the public to learn about fireflies, and look what it gets the fireflies, and took what it gets the fireflies in return....

Lucien: Want to do something about it?

Renad: But if we buy all of them, the vendors will have more incentive to capture even more fireflies.

Lucien: A dilemma indeed.

Renad: Okay...

Lucien: Give me a minute.

Lucien strode toward the vendor. The vendor eagerly waved him over as he counted the money he'd earned.

Vendor: Want a firefly? It'll make your wishes come true!

Lucien: Sir, don't you know that capturing fireflies without a permit is illegal?

Vendor (Surprised): No way! They are just bugs. Nothing illegal about that. You are holding up the line. Get lost!

Lucien: Well, I must warn you that it's a pretty steep fine for capturing wild fireflies.

The vendor's expression changed immediately when he heard that.

Vendor: Aw, come on, don't be so unreasonable! I'm just trying to make a living, you know!

Lucien showed no sign of relenting, so the vendor trained his pleading eyes on me.

Vendor ( Batting his eyelashes): Miss, my apologies... How about you take the rest of these fireflies and let me off the hook this once?

Renad (Looking up at Lucien): ...?

Lucien (Smiling, winking at me): ...

I took the fireflies from the vendor. The vendor immediately packed up and fled the scene.

Renad: Lucien, how did you know about such an obscure law? I should make a show with you called Real Genius: The Walking Library.

Lucien: I was playing him.

Renad: Huh?

Lucien: Fireflies aren't endangered. It's not illegal to capture them. I made up that whole thing about the fine.

Renad: Huh? But what if he looked up just then?

Lucien: He wouldn't. It would just create a scene and make him lose customers. That's a risk a businessman would never take.

Renad (Nodding): Still, that was pretty amazing, what you did.

Lucien: Humans aren't complicated as you think, most of the time.

Renad: It might be easy for you to figure people out, but not for me. Anyway, let's release these fireflies into the wild. They look half-dead already...

Lucien: Alright, let's go.

Renad: Where to?

Lucien (Looking at me): We need to bring them to a suitable habitat, or else they won't survive.

Lucien led me to a dense thicket. We trudged on, following a meandering path. It was getting dark, and the fireflies in my jar were gleaming faintly. The trees cast shadows on Lucien's silhouette, creating a sight that seemed almost surreal. Once we were deep enough in the thicket, I opened the jar. But the fireflies didn't fly out.

Renad (Staring at the bottle nervously): Why are they not moving? Are they... dead?

Lucien: Whether they'll survive depends on their will to live. Without a will to live, they'll die soon to other dangers, even if you try to save them.

I gazed at the fireflies in the jar, silently praying that they'll live on happily. One of the fireflies begins flapping its wings, slowly gliding upwards.

Renad (Delighted): Lucien, look!

Soon, more and more fireflies drifted away into the night sky, carrying their little green lamps.

Renad: The look so lively now! Lucien, look over there!

More fireflies had gathered in the depths of the thicket, as if welcoming their friends home. The dark night sky is soon lit up by small specks of green. Lucien and I stood there, surrounded by fireflies.

Renad: Look, they've lit up all the trees! It's lovely, don't you think?

Lucien: Yes, but these lights are actually a bad omen for some woodland creatures.

Renad: How so?

Lucien: Baby fireflies eat snails and certain insects to survive, so their lights are bad news for some others. Survival of the fittest. That's how the natural world works.

Renad: Lucien...

As he spoke, his gaze wandered off to some faraway place. On his face was an expression I'd never seen before. I wanted to ask him what he was thinking, but he soon stared smiling again as if nothing was wrong. Noticing that a small firefly had not taken flight yet, I cupped it in my palms.

Renad: Hang in there, little one!

Lucien (Touching the firefly gently with a finger)

The firefly, wings fluttering, leapt from my palm to Lucien's fingertip. A sudden breeze from the depths of the thicket sent the fireflies scattering. The one in our hands, though, continued struggling to fly. Hair and shirt whipping in the wind, Lucien gazed at it with soft, kind eyes.

Lucien: It's getting windy...

To struggle is the only way to survive. As if understanding Lucien's words, the firefly began to lift itself shakily into the air. It danced around Lucien and me, bidding us farewell one last time. And then it headed towards its friends, eventually disappearing into the depths of the woods.

Renad (Watching the green specks fade away): The world may be cruel, but so many fragile little creatures find a way to survive.

Lucien: ...

Renad: Perhaps small acts of kindness like this can bring some warmth to this cruel world.

Lucien (Gazing at me silently, Lucien smiled.)

***

To show my appreciation for Lucien's help on the program, I went on a date with him to the local firefly exhibit. The exhibit was set up as sparkling corridors to make me feel like I stepped into a tunnel of stars. We ran across someone selling fireflies. I wanted to save those poor things but was afraid it would encourage the peddler and others even more. Lucien, though, spooked him into releasing them by elaborating on the illegality of his action. Very admirable job, professor! Lucien was not the person I know tonight. He stared off into the distant as if he was speaking to someone else. But I still held was speaking to someone else. But I still held out hope that these small glimmers will still bring warmth to a cruel world.