literature

Summer Contest Entry

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Literature Text

Hotaru pulled in a deep breath into his lungs and his soft green eyes closed. He just breathed, feeling the warmth of the sun on his skin. He was happy. He flashed a look to his pale and sullen brother.

“Don’t you think this is wonderful?” Hotaru threw his arms out and spun around in the summer air. “Everything’s starting to come alive.”

Black-haired Itamu merely huffed, his eyes downcast. “You can’t feel them the way I do, brother.”

“That’s why I brought you all the way out here. There aren’t any people.” The angel put his hand on Itamu’s shoulder. “I know it’s hard, but I don’t think it would be so bad if you left all the worries of the world behind for tonight. Enjoy yourself.”

Itamu shyly looked up from his book, violet eyes meeting his brother’s. He closed the ancient Bible with a soft click. “Sometimes…” He looked out into the distance, his voice trailing off. The air was different than what he normally knew. It was fresh, not like the stale kind found in his library. There were so many sounds. Bees buzzed from flower to flower, cicadas trilled like a sea of grass.

“Sometimes I forget what it’s like to be happy. To be free. Father has bound me to this yolk.”

Hotaru listened thoughtfully, his gaze following Itamu’s out into the field. “’My yolk is easy and my burden is light,’” he recited, feeling quite sagelike. A childish grin swept it away. “You forget you can choose whether your burden is light or heavy. As well, never forget that as long as time exists, I shall share it always.”

He stood as Itamu sat, face angled upwards, his tired eyes filled with wonder at the darkening sky. It was soon to be the best part. The sun kept falling, and the warm summer light was swallowed by cool shadow.

“Sometimes…” he whispered, clapping his hands softly before raising them up as high as he could. The night of summer was instantly illuminated as thousands of soft glowing lights fell from above.  The two angels were soon swarmed with tiny stars. “It would be a shame not to dance and stay all night with the light-bugs.”

Hotaru extended a hand to his brother, whose book now lay forgotten in the grass. His eyes shone with reflected galaxies. “Will you dance with me?”

Slowly, solemnly, Itamu nodded, grasping hold of Hotaru’s hand and helping himself up. His stony expression softened as the younger took the lead, swaying softly. As they worked together through the moves, Itamu felt his spirits lift, and by the time the dance made its way to a waltz, he had a smile on his face.

Hotaru didn’t pretend he didn’t notice. “How long has it been since I have seen it? Too long, brother.” He let Itamu spin out from his fingertips before pulling him back for another round of steps. “How is it that once, funerals were full of music, and dancing, and celebration for a life lived? When did it become so sorrowful?”

The elder misstepped, and they both stopped. He had hit a nerve, Hotaru quickly realized, and opened his mouth to apologize.

“Because funerals are for the living now, not for the dead as they once were,” Itamu sighed raising his chin to face the lightning bugs. The air was still, and even the crickets were afraid to break the silence.

Then the black-winged angel did something unexpected; he raised his arms and twirled, sending the tiny balls of light into a glowing spiral. His graceful swan-dance soon melted into a dramatic free-style, and through his motions, he let his emotions free.
Hotaru smiled softly, and mirrored his brother, complementing every move with his own. Together they danced like this, whirling and twisting, occasionally floating and graceful, all through the summer’s eve. It was morn before they stopped, and the fireflies seemed to float back up into the sky at the first sign of waking pink.

Itamu closed his eyes, breathing in the damp scent of morning. His shoulders gratefully sloped upwards, feeling like a weight had been lifted from them.

“Thank you, brother, for teaching me to let go.”

Hotaru grinned.

“You are welcome to dance with me any time.”
Hotaru and Itamu (c) me

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