Winter Lights - A Short Story

A follow up to the short story “Watching Fireflies” that is just as readable as a standalone short to spice up your festive spirits. :)

“No, Elfie!”

“But Dad! It’s Christmas Eve! It’s a season of joy!”

“There’s no joy for you until you’ve done all your homework! You’ve been procrastinating all week,” Elfred gave his son the ultimatum.

While Elfie went into his room to finish his homework, Elfred and his wife, Elna, packed their things and strolled hand-in-hand to the city square. Rooftops, treetops and everything else with tops were covered in snow. A gentle breeze blew past the couple. In a cloudless blue sky, the morning light glistened off ice crystals to form millions of tiny suns.

Elfred and Elna set off early to make sure all the props were in order and the tree lights functioned. The square was going to be the night’s centre of attraction. Town folks will queue to take photos with the trio. Those that still believed would tell Santa their wishes. It was going to be another promising Christmas Eve. Elfred felt it in his bones. He had been the town’s Santa for a decade. For the past two years, he was joined by his wife, the one and only Santarina, and their son played the role of Santa’s greatest helper, the elf.

The night will culminate into a climax of fireworks, cheers and dances as the clock struck midnight. Everyone would party until the wee hours of the morning. Those thoughts excited Elfred and his family. There was no reason they would not make it a successful family hat trick tonight.

When they approached the town square, they were impressed by the perfect Christmas tree that stood against the test of time. Six centuries old, it never needed any trimming. It had been through many hardships with generations of townsfolk. It was the town’s pillar of strength during the Wizards’ War - the tree was the source of energy for the wizards to draw from at the final moment to fight back the darkness. It became a symbol of nature when people desecrated the earth to make way for the industrial revolution. When the forest was bare except for this tree, the town was hit by extreme weather - storms and prolonged dry spells - for decades. The tree eventually transferred its energy to the earth and regenerated the forest. Unfortunately, all was forgotten when modernisation turned magic into nothing more than tricks and entertainment. Only a special few like Elfie secretly studied real magic.

“I’m going to turn on the lights just to make sure they are fine,” Elfred said and went into a shack built next to the tree to house the incoming electric supply. It will also serve as the backdrop for Santa to greet his guests later in the night.

The lights did not turn on when Elfred flipped the switch. He desperately tried to fix it. Racing against time, he ran to the source of the power and discovered that it was shorted out. The roof sprung a leak and melted snow dripped into the power socket. Part of the cable was burnt. There was nothing that Elfred could do. He tried calling the electrician but none had their phones on. This year the village will have to celebrate Christmas without a beautifully lighted tree.

******

The sun set and dusk settled. Without the attraction of the Christmas tree lights that people had come to expect, the town square was cast in shadows. Elfred was dressed in his Santa costume and doing the jingles. Elna stood by her husband in her Santarina costume while, Elfie, dressed as Santa’s little elf, stood on the other side of his father. They tried to keep their smiles and cheers on but no one bothered.

“Ho! Ho! Ho!”

The villagers walked past as if he did not exist. Some managed to acknowledge the family’s presence and forced a smile. But everyone looked at them with accusing eyes of their failure to light up the tree and spoiled Christmas. As dusk made way to night, Elfred and family sat hunched on the bench with a heavy burden of guilt weighing them down.

“We should call it a night, my dear Elna and Elfie. I’ve spoilt Christmas for everyone.”

“Give me a few minutes, dad. I will be right back,” Elfie replied and ran off.

True to his words, he was back in less than ten minutes. He was lugging a few boxes behind him. As he got closer, Elfred’s eyes widened.

“Fireflies! Why of course!” Both parents exclaimed and stood up to help their son.

Gently, the three of them slid the top covers off the boxes. Fireflies drifted lazily out of their warm and cosy home, bathing the family in a warm glow. The insects settled on the tree and produced random points of lights. Their hope was short-lived when, from a distance, no one else noticed the dim glow of the fireflies.

“I’m sorry, Mom and Dad, I don’t have enough fireflies to make a difference and I’ve not learnt any light spells to brighten the tree,” Elfie said, tears flooding his eyes.

“Its all right, dear. We know you’ve tried your best,” Elna said. “Anyway, it’s not the end of the world.”

The family hugged. And then, as though given a supercharge, the fireflies magically brightened up. In an instant, the shadows disappeared and the Christmas tree dazzled in grandeur. The tree saved the day! It radiated its energy through the fireflies and enhanced their chemical reactions so that they glowed many times brighter.

The townsfolk gasped in astonishment as they gathered around the square. The fireflies’ slow but random movements turned the tree alive, something that no electric lights could do. The fireflies that were floating around looked like dancing stars that came down from the heavens. A truly unique experience. Words of mouth, passed from one to another, reached the farthest folk within minutes. They flooded in to witness nature’s magical powers.

“Ho! Ho! Ho! Come and make your wish!” Elfred’s voice boomed amidst the chatter of thousands of voices.

A queue began to form as the townsfolk waited for their turn to meet Santa and his sidekicks. Before all that was well ended well, another hurdle presented itself. It began to rain. The iced cold rain threatened to force everyone away. Cheerful faces became anxious ones.

Elfie had another idea.

But, but, but...

Being an apprentice, Elfie was not sure if he could pull it off, but he would need to try. Nothing could be worse than not trying. He stared up into the heavens and concentrated. Elfie felt a surge of power flowing through his body. The tree was once again lending its energy. With the amplification, Elfie’s magic reached out to every raindrop. Like fireworks, each drop burst into snowflakes that drifted down on the folks. The snow enhanced the mood of the people. Laughter and happy chatter returned as the queue to meet Santa continued to grow.

Elfie thought he heard the tree whispered “Merry Christmas” but he could not be sure.

End.

Dirty Water - A Short Story

A few recent incidents where our water source - a river - was polluted caused water treatment plants to be shutdown for days without warning. These prompted me to write a short story to illustrate unscrupulous people only interested in profits without any care to the effects they cause to the environment and to the people.

Dirty Water

It was a dark and stormy night. Rain pelted on the windows, trying to force its way in. However, Gridy the Boss was oblivious to the noise. He was smoking an expensive cigar with his legs propped up on his grand table, made out of a chunk of a once magnificent tree he ordered chopped down. His personal office, although spacious, was filled with smoke. He liked the feeling because it gave him the illusion of being in the Swiss Alps and not this hot and humid dump.

No matter. At the rate he was going, within a year he will be able to afford a luxurious house and live a promiscuous life, wherever he chose.

But at the expense of a lot of people.

******

He operated a shabby factory hidden in a secluded part of a small town. His factory was legally registered as a food processing plant but that was just a front. Hidden inside, he employed illegal immigrants to manually strip and process precious metals out of electronic waste. The chemicals were easily discharged into the river that conveniently ran along with the backyard of the factory.

Recently, he landed on a job to dispose of electronic components from an international conglomerate of tech companies. He employed even more illegal immigrants and bribed many officials. He expanded his factory and, naturally increased discharges to the river. The once clear river was now reduced to a source of murky liquid. Withered foliage ran in parallel with the river, death and misery spreading by the day.

“Hey boss, I’ve got an idea for ya,” his sleazy factory manager said.

“Spell it out. I ain’t got all day,” Gridy was irritated. He did not like to be interrupted when he was counting his fortunes.

“You know those rubbish we paid to that company to dispose of every week? The tens of thousands of dollars that dumpster guy rips us of -“

“Rips ME off, Rat. This is MY company and mine alone,” he reminded his manager whom he always called Rat for the whiskers and protruding nose that reminded him of the rodent.

“Yes, your company,” Rat corrected himself. “I’ve got an idea that could save us... you, save YOU hundreds of thousands of dollars.”

“Get to the point!” he was getting impatient. Despite their similar alignment towards unscrupulous practices, he was well aware nothing good would come out of a rat.

“Yes sir. Behind this factory are acres and acres of nothing but an endless jungle. I would suggest we dump the waste there, bury them and when the shrubs grow back, no one will be the wiser.”

“Well, I don’t know...,” it took Gridy thirty seconds to decide that Rat was on to something big. “Make it work and you will be handsomely rewarded.”

Rat made it work and became Gridy’s second in command. Together, they compounded their riches... and the suffering for those that lived within the radius of the effects.

******

While Gridy was dreaming of bigger plans in his office and Rat planning to open up another dumping ground, the storm grew in intensity. Lightning turned the dark, night sky as bright as day before surrendering back to the blackness. Defying physics, the lightning ignored the nearby trees and stroke down into the river. The energy transferred caused even the dark, murky water to glow.

Mixed with clean, crystal clear rain, the polluted river water started to rise and rise and rise like a huge column of wall. The polluted liquid struggled to expel the onslaught of clean rainwater. The dark and the clear separated and morphed into two giant monsters the size of mountains.

Both appeared like blobs of jellies but in contrast to the smooth curves of the crystal clear monster, the dark one had sharp spikes protruding out of its body. The lightning flashes were relentless, just like strobe lights used to stop motion, illuminating the two giants as they engaged in battle. In a flash, the dark blob connected an uppercut to the clear blob’s face, sending it stumbling backwards.

In another flash of lightning, the clear monster retaliated with a head butt. In the next few subsequent flashes, both were tumbling into the forest. Whichever tree the dark blob touched or enveloped into its mass, the tree withered. On the other hand, the clear blob’s touch brought life back to the trees. Although it tried to save as many trees as possible, the fight was too intense for it to focus.

There was no clear winner until both monsters clashed and rebounded onto the ground. The clear blob recovered first and took the opportunity to heal the surrounding trees and plants. With its attention on the greens, it did not notice the dark blob slithered behind, its arm morphed into a stake. The evil monster stabbed the clear blob, its dark poison quickly spread through its body.

The poisoning was swift. The clear blob lost its powers and collapsed into a pool of dark liquid. The victorious dark blob absorbed its nemesis and grew twice in size. It let out a growl into the night so loud that even the storm could not suppress. The force was so great that it pushed the storm away, revealing that dawn had arrived. The rain and thunder stopped, there was silence.

The dark monster turned towards the factory, aware it was the source of its powers. It towered over the fourteen storey building twice over. It bowed down and stared through the factory’s thirteenth-floor windows at the back of Gridy and Rat. Oblivious, the two men continued talking about their fortunes and how to earn more.

The sight of them somehow irritated the monster. It let out another growl, shattering the windows and threw both men across the room. They stared at the face of death for the first and the last time. The monster gobbled up the factory complex, feeding off the nuclear supply that powered the building.

It felt the energy and then, even more energy as the nuclear reaction warmed its body. It felt satisfaction for the first time in its short life, and then, pain, as its corrupted body started to react with the uranium. It growled in agony. Its body ballooned for a second before imploding into a speck of light. Attracted by the light, a curious blue-green butterfly flew towards it, only to be disappointed as it fizzled out.

People who had dealings with Gridy were puzzled by the sudden disappearance of him and his factory. They searched high and low for him to reclaim their losses but he was nowhere to be found. His vanishing brought the downfall of his equally corrupted accomplices. 

The good and the clean triumphed once more. There was relief for those who wished Gridy and Co. never existed. After a few days, the river started to deliver clear water again from the mountains and life returned.

-End -

Invasion - A Short Story

Also published in Reedsy Prompts.

*****

Rapid footsteps interrupted the sound of a peaceful jungle with calls of the wild. A boy, drenched in sweat, was running for his life, away from the new king of the jungle and his minions. By his side was a lion cub, the heir to the old throne.

A rival pride had attacked the lion kingdom and imprisoned the old guards. Years of betrayal and losses had moulded the lion at the head of this new pride into a cold and heartless beast. There was nothing left in his life but to conquer and destroy all things living. In the midst of the chaos, the boy managed to wriggle his way through the bushes and escape with the lion cub. They hardly ran a few kilometres before hyenas and snakes blocked their path. Soon, they were surrounded. The only direction they could go was down a steep cliff. Beneath the cliff was rocky terrain created by the sea with waves so strong that each splash sounded like a thunderclap. It was instant death in the hands of the evil creatures or take a leap of faith. The boy hugged the lion cub, and they both jumped.

~~~~~

The sound of laughter was welcoming. The boy was at the beach, splashing water at his sister on one side and his father on the other. The fun was all about splashing water at each other.

“Ha, ha, ha! You ain’t getting away, Tib!”

“I’m not trying to!” Tiberius replied.

An elephant blared from the rear. It filled its trunk with water and sprayed at the trio. In the distant, the sound of a roar pierced through the day. The king of the jungle announced his arrival. A lion emerged from the bushes with his cub. When they reached the water, he encouraged the cub with his muzzle to join his friends.

"Go on, Lionel, your friends are calling you. It will be fun."

But the timid little cub clung on to his father. The lion picked Lionel up with his teeth and dipped him in the water. Within moments, Lionel and his human friends were splashing water at each other. Through generations of friendship, Tiberius’ royal family had become close allies with the animal kingdom, both protecting each other’s domain.

Suddenly, a giant wave appeared right in front of Tib. The sky turned dark as the wave blocked out the sun and came crashing down on to Tib, his family and friends.

SPLASH!

Wave after wave of water crashed down on them. Tiberius was pushed underwater. He choked and gasped for air. No matter how hard he tried to swim to the surface, the pressure was so strong that it pushed him back under. He was drowning. In one last attempt, he gathered all his strength and thrust upward with his hands and legs. The surface, only an arm's length away, still seemed too far. His lungs were on fire and about to burst-

~~~~~

Tib woke with a start. He was not on a familiar beach with his family and friends. He was being washed ashore in a strange place. He scrambled to look for Lionel. He found the cub further up the beach, its body appeared devoid of life. The boy knelt beside it, not willing to touch it because he was afraid to confirm his suspicions that Lionel drowned. He wept but opened his teary eyes when he heard Lionel coughing out water. Overwhelmed with joy, the boy hugged his little friend.

"We have to get out of here and look for help," Tiberius said to Lionel. They scoured the place but soon discovered that they were lost on an island. Accepting their fate, they worked together to survive. To Lionel's disgust, his friend's diet became mostly of fruits and fish. Eventually, out of hunger, Lionel became the first lion to live off fruits and fish as his staple.

Curiosity got the better of the island's natural inhabitants. When they were convinced the boy and lion were harmless, they approached them. They sent their messenger, a blue parakeet, to test the water.

"Ahoy there! State your names and purpose for invading our island!" it squawked.

"We... we mean you no harm. We... we're lost," Lionel stuttered and eventually told it their story.

After the parakeet returned into the jungle and relayed the story word for word, the island's origins left the protection of the foliage and revealed themselves. The earth shook as a tribe of men and women, elephants, giraffes, horses and flocks of birds made their way forward.

"We came here centuries ago when our ark crashed into this island. Half perished, but our ancestors of this island pulled the rest of us out of the wreckage and saved our lives," a giraffe said. "This was initially a paradise island for giraffes but ever since the incident, this is a peaceful island for all."

"We sympathise with you. You are welcome to stay as long as you are willing to live among us in peace," a squirrel said, climbing on to the head of the lead giraffe.

Tiberius felt a little awkward because all eyes were on him. Shouldn't they be more concern about a lion instead?

"Especially humans," a tall, angular tribe member said. "It took years to correct a terrible mistake one of us made. In the name of progress, he tricked all of us and nearly destroyed the environment."

"Do not be alarmed. From where we came from, we lived in harmony with the rest of our jungle folks. That was until-"

"We do not wish to interfere with the outside world," the giraffe interrupted.

~~~~~

And so years passed. Tiberius and Lionel lived among the tribes and animals. The passage of time slowly dulled the pain and sorrowful memories of their families. Lionel grew to become a handsome lion that ate vegetables and fruits with the occasional supplement of fish.

Unfortunately, their past caught up with them. It was a mild afternoon. The inhabitants of the island were sunbathing on the beach when the evil lions and their minions landed. They had used their human and animal slaves to build them a ship to find new lands to conquer.

The tame and complacent islanders were no match for the invaders. Before dusk, the minions had captured most of the animals. Tiberius and Lionel managed to evade capture. The boy, drenched in sweat, was running for his life, away from his old, ruthless emissary and his underlings. Next to Tib was the grown Lionel, the heir to the old throne. Their nightmare was beginning all over again.

End

Watching Fireflies - A Fantasy Short Story

In an unprecedented worldwide pandemic, most of us are now staying at home, some already for a few weeks while others have just started. It is not a holiday with our bosses reminding us to keep working albeit from home. It is easy to put off our duties when the environment is as comfortable as home. This gave me an idea to write a fantasy short story about procrastination and here it is. Enjoy.

Alternative covers that I’ve worked on can be found in IonBuck’s Blog.


Watching Fireflies

Elfie dreaded going to the magic school but today was a good day for him indeed. The class was canceled for the rest of the week after his professor had fallen ill due to mysterious circumstances (but that is another story for another time). The kids were joyful to have so many days off but alas, not without some thick stacks of theoretical and practical magic homework. The work should not take more than an hour a day if spread out evenly for the whole week.

“Why isn’t there any magic that can finish my homework for me?” he muttered under his breath when the work was handed over to him.

On the way home, Elfie resolved that he will finish all his homework so that he could spend the rest of his free days to do what he pleased.

“I’m going to complete my work in two days and have five days of freedom!” he said aloud in his excited state. “YES!”

He hurried home, made himself some sandwiches and brought them together with a glass of water to his room. He was trying to be efficient so that he can just stuff the sandwiches into his mouth and gulp them down while he was hard at work. He locked himself in the room and tossed his work on the desk.

“Let’s get started.”

Elfie sat down and opened his first assignment, a thick leather-bound book of history to study. That will require a lot of brain muscles.

All right, I will just take a bite before I start so that I have all the energy that I need, Elfie thought and took one bite of his sandwich.

The lettuce was fresh and crunchy. He raised the sandwich to admire the ingredients squashed between the bread. As he stared at the lettuce and tomato slices, he started to think about planting his own crops tomorrow morning.

Day two. Gardening is good exercise before continuing with my homework. Yes, I’ll do just that.

Elfie realised that it was getting dark, way earlier than usual. Looking out at the skies he saw dark storm clouds loomed above. He took out a box from under his bed and attached it to a series of glass tubes fastened to the parameter walls of the room. A few gentle knocks on the box later, the fireflies inside stirred and began to fly into the tubes. As if a switch was flipped, one of the fireflies began to produce a luminescent glow in its lower abdomen, followed by another, and another.

Gradually, Elfie’s room was bathed in glimmering incandescent light. Probably for the hundredth time, he was mesmerised by the tiny moving globes of light in the tubes.

It’s hard to resist looking at these miracles of nature, he thought. It is disrespectful not to admire the fireflies for awhile. It will just be for a few minutes, then I will get right back to work.

The glowing insects floated effortlessly. The effect was hypnotic. Elfie was fascinated by the chaotic but slow movements of the insects. He reached out and unscrewed one of the tubes so that the fireflies floated unrestricted into the room.

"Magical, simply magical," Elfie whispered in awe.

With great difficulty, he tore his eyes from the scene and flipped through his collection of water spells. Bubbles. Enhance the bonds between the water molecules so that they form perfect spherical shapes. Elfie focused his thoughts and let the magic flow through him into the glass of water.

At first, tiny bubbles floated up and glint in the light. Elfie focused more and the bubbles grew in size but popped just after leaving the glass. He stood up, closed his eyes, took in a deep breath, and channeled all his strength to make a bubble the size of an orange. It floated up and swallowed up some of the fireflies that flew out of the tube. The bubble glimmered as the fireflies bounced off the sphere. It looked like a mini planetary system with glowing stars floating around.

One day, I’m going to make a bubble big enough to engulf all these fireflies, he thought before passing out from exhaustion. Without the flow of energy, the bubble burst and the fireflies floated freely again.

*****

“Elfie, it’s dinner time!” his mother called out.

Elfie sat up and blinked. He was in a daze so he fell back on his bed and admired the fireflies floating all over the room. As the fog cleared he remembered that he had just wasted a day procrastinating, again.

“But there is always tomorrow,” he rolled off his bed and left his room for dinner.

- End -

Review: How Plants Work: The Science Behind the Amazing Things Plants Do (Science for Gardeners)

Despite its namesake, How Plants Work: The Science Behind the Amazing Things Plants Do (Science for Gardeners) is more like a beginner’s guide to the botanic world. It starts off describing the microscopic details of plant cells and eventually goes all the way to the big trees. The book is easy to understand and doesn’t burden the reader with complex terms. However, I do occasionally wish there are some footnotes to explain some terms that are unique to this field.

Some fun facts from the book that you can look forward to: We all know plants appear differently during each season. They look especially beautiful during autumn and spring but the how’s and why’s they act this way were never more than an afterthought. This book will blow your mind away as it describes in reasonable details why plants act this way.

Besides that, the book clarifies and/or dispels certain myths and techniques that are nothing more than just marketing gimmicks. Some should even be avoided because they do more harm than good to the plants.

By the end of the book, you will consider plants as more than just mere vegetation. They will become your buddies and companions in this world! Well, I may exaggerate a bit there but really, you will look at plants differently by the time you finish reading this book. There is a list of recommended books for further reading in the last few pages. I would choose The Pruning Book one of these days and create my own bonsai friends!