From the Voices of Fireflies

We returned the coffin to the ground and covered it with the dirt and sod.
Felix turned to Milo and said,
“Uncle Milo, please show Emilio and Danny the way back to the gardens. We will follow soon. Please don’t argue.”

The three of us left reluctantly. When we got to the far corner of the church, Milo stopped us.
“Let’s wait here a bit. Something incredible is bound to happen.”

Felix, Maxine and Esperanza walked hand in hand away from the grave to a small knob of a hill at the edge of the cemetery. We could see them silhouetted against a kind of incandescent sky. Felix sat on the ground in the center; from the distance we could hear him humming and beating two stones against a log. The rhythm was like a wolf's heartbeat. The women began to move smoothly around the seated Felix, and as they moved faster, they were joined by a third dancer as lithe as the other two---slender, with shoulder-length hair.
“It’s Mia! Sweet Gesu! It’s Mia!” Milo was trying to speak and catch his breath at the same time.

Sparkling lights appeared around them like some ethereal carousel, complete with the humming of wonderful melodies ----first by ladies’ voices, then by girls’ voices and finally the giddiness of children’s voices ---- changing as the carousel went faster and Felix’s tempi became more intense.


Then their voices became like the soft singing of birds, and their figures, in the half-light even began to take on avian characteristics.


As it grew dim, there was a growing, glowing light coming from meters away, over by the foothills. It was a rainbow in the deepest darkness of night. It was Sybian.


“Sancta Sybiana! Ora pro nobis!” Milo gasped, and Emilio and I instinctively crossed ourselves. Every hair on our bodies was standing on end and our hearts were matching Felix’s drumming.

The light of Sybian (Lux Voluptua) grew brighter and warmer and then, with a short explosive sound all was quiet and dark, including the lamps on the side of the church. All that was left of the figures was the dancing and glowing and whispering of fireflies.




We stood speechless--- Emilio, Milo and myself--- afraid to move. Finally Milo cleared his throat.

“Come,” he said, “ I know a great place for a drink.”