Mark was immediately drawn to Francine from the first moment he saw her. Maybe these were just his moth instincts kicking in as, after all, Francine was a firefly and how could a moth not be drawn to the light? However, he liked to think it was more than that. After all, he had been drawn to Francine and not any of her firefly friends nearby. Neither could've told you what his grand opening line was, but they both knew that they fell in love that first night.
They didn't think that their relationship could get even crazier from love at first sight, but it did. The next morning they took flight and found an undisturbed meadow. The meadow hadn't been tainted by humans or machines or even other animals. It was all theirs. As they flittered about the meadow though, this changed.
A small bird began to circle them, from a distance at first but then slowly closer and closer. Before they realized, the bird was just a foot away from them. Mark and Francine exchanged looks and knew what to do. They shot upwards, causing the bird to chase them, but then they flew away from each other and made zig zags in the air so that the bird got confused for a moment, giving them some distance. But soon the bird made a beeline for Mark. He was a dark colored moth an easier to spot during the day time.
But Mark made a quick plan and he hoped Francine would follow at a safe distance. Mark shot straight for the forest around the trees and the bird followed, hungry. Mark flew straight at the tree, but once he got close enough, he shot up and to the right a bit, hiding himself in the bark. The bird didn't make a decision fast enough and so he crashed right into the trunk. The bird stumblingly flew to the ground and sat to recover.
Just as Mark was wondering how he'd find Francine after this mess, she flew up to him. The two embraced, but quickly made their way away from the bird, in case he got his sense back together too quickly.
Next, they flew to a little babbling brook. For a while, they just watched the water as they chatted peacefully and shared their lives, but soon Francine was urging Mark to join her in flying low over the water. She said it would be lovely just to feel a little of the spray and Mark couldn't deny her.
So the two flew close over the water and stared at the beautiful things below. There were gorgeously shaped rocks and beautiful algae. Mark wondered what he'd been so afraid of, but then he heard it.
Ribbit.
Francine and Mark turned in horror to see a frog, just out of reach. Quicker than they thought possible, the frog lashes out her tongue, just missing one of Francine's legs. The two love bugs looked at each other in shock but flew on. But then, the frog jumped into the brook and began to follow. The love bugs did the only thing they could, fly even higher.
The frog shot out her tongue again and managed to snag a bit of Francine's leg. She looked at Mark in fear as she began to be pulled into the maw of the frog below. Mark hooked his legs around her little body and pulled, hard. While Mark would like to think it was his mighty strength that finally pulled Francine free, it was really the frog deciding that they were too much trouble for dinner.
Sadly, as Mark flew Francine to safety on a mossy tree branch, he saw that she'd lost her leg. He held her close and they wept.
The next day, however, Francine's spirits had improved. She found that she could still get around quite well and could certainly still fly, so she wouldn't let anything stop them. Still, Mark insisted on a calm day and so they spent the day fluttering about the forest, each of them showing the other familiar haunts.
Their third evening together, however, would prove to be their last.
As night descended, they came upon a group of campers in the woods. Francine and Mark shared that they loved to people watch. Humans were so weird and had so much drama. So they parked close and watched the camp unfold. They shared theories about who really liked whom and who was secretly made at whom and giggled at their increasingly crazy ideas.
But then, it was finally dark and one of the humans brought out a bright lantern.
Mark was mesmerized by it. It was this extravagant, iridescent, almost divine light. And he had to be near it. Almost unconsciously, he began to fly towards it. Francine tried to pull him back, but she was still weak.
Unwilling to give up though, she kept pulling and pulling, hoping the spell would be broken.
And then it came...
ZAP
(Prompt by Katie Durr)
They didn't think that their relationship could get even crazier from love at first sight, but it did. The next morning they took flight and found an undisturbed meadow. The meadow hadn't been tainted by humans or machines or even other animals. It was all theirs. As they flittered about the meadow though, this changed.
A small bird began to circle them, from a distance at first but then slowly closer and closer. Before they realized, the bird was just a foot away from them. Mark and Francine exchanged looks and knew what to do. They shot upwards, causing the bird to chase them, but then they flew away from each other and made zig zags in the air so that the bird got confused for a moment, giving them some distance. But soon the bird made a beeline for Mark. He was a dark colored moth an easier to spot during the day time.
But Mark made a quick plan and he hoped Francine would follow at a safe distance. Mark shot straight for the forest around the trees and the bird followed, hungry. Mark flew straight at the tree, but once he got close enough, he shot up and to the right a bit, hiding himself in the bark. The bird didn't make a decision fast enough and so he crashed right into the trunk. The bird stumblingly flew to the ground and sat to recover.
Just as Mark was wondering how he'd find Francine after this mess, she flew up to him. The two embraced, but quickly made their way away from the bird, in case he got his sense back together too quickly.
Next, they flew to a little babbling brook. For a while, they just watched the water as they chatted peacefully and shared their lives, but soon Francine was urging Mark to join her in flying low over the water. She said it would be lovely just to feel a little of the spray and Mark couldn't deny her.
So the two flew close over the water and stared at the beautiful things below. There were gorgeously shaped rocks and beautiful algae. Mark wondered what he'd been so afraid of, but then he heard it.
Ribbit.
Francine and Mark turned in horror to see a frog, just out of reach. Quicker than they thought possible, the frog lashes out her tongue, just missing one of Francine's legs. The two love bugs looked at each other in shock but flew on. But then, the frog jumped into the brook and began to follow. The love bugs did the only thing they could, fly even higher.
The frog shot out her tongue again and managed to snag a bit of Francine's leg. She looked at Mark in fear as she began to be pulled into the maw of the frog below. Mark hooked his legs around her little body and pulled, hard. While Mark would like to think it was his mighty strength that finally pulled Francine free, it was really the frog deciding that they were too much trouble for dinner.
Sadly, as Mark flew Francine to safety on a mossy tree branch, he saw that she'd lost her leg. He held her close and they wept.
The next day, however, Francine's spirits had improved. She found that she could still get around quite well and could certainly still fly, so she wouldn't let anything stop them. Still, Mark insisted on a calm day and so they spent the day fluttering about the forest, each of them showing the other familiar haunts.
Their third evening together, however, would prove to be their last.
As night descended, they came upon a group of campers in the woods. Francine and Mark shared that they loved to people watch. Humans were so weird and had so much drama. So they parked close and watched the camp unfold. They shared theories about who really liked whom and who was secretly made at whom and giggled at their increasingly crazy ideas.
But then, it was finally dark and one of the humans brought out a bright lantern.
Mark was mesmerized by it. It was this extravagant, iridescent, almost divine light. And he had to be near it. Almost unconsciously, he began to fly towards it. Francine tried to pull him back, but she was still weak.
Unwilling to give up though, she kept pulling and pulling, hoping the spell would be broken.
And then it came...
ZAP
(Prompt by Katie Durr)
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