Short Story

This is my short story, "Lights On", that I wrote for my Fiction Writing class, spring 2020.
(Disclaimer: formatting might appear off because I copy & pasted from another document. Ignore that.)

Lights On

The grass had been dead since early May, but that didn’t stop Ingrid from running through it.

Every step introduced a new crunching noise, contributing to the melody of the early evening as she chased a lightning bug. She extended her arms out, hands holding a mason jar as if she was waiting for the lightning bug to gently find refuge inside it.

Her unevenly cut blonde hair bounced off her shoulders as she ran. It was only her and the open, dark blue skies of Tennessee that embraced her as she made routes through the property.  The night was filled with many other critters, including other fluorescent bugs, but Ingrid only wanted the one. 

Yet the bug disappeared among the trees and Ingrid let out a disappointed sigh. She sat down on the severed trunk of an oak tree, her small legs swinging back and forth, feet unable to reach the ground. She glanced up to make out a few twinkling stars in between the cover of the forest trees.

I can’t do this every day, Ingrid thought, I can’t keep running away like this. 

As she paused, distinct yelling could be heard in the distance. She tried to tune it out by listening to the creatures of the night croak and creak in their daily cacophony, but those noises were drowned out by the urgent remarks shouted from the back porch of her house.

“Ingrid Jane I’m telling you, you better get over here right now or else I’m not letting you play outside again. It’s late.” A voice exclaimed. Ingrid reluctantly hopped down from the oak tree and made her way back towards the house. As she made it to the porch, Ingrid lowered her head in disappointment.

“I’m sorry, Lily. I just saw that lightning bug and I knew that I needed to catch it and keep it.” said Ingrid, without making eye contact.

“It’s fine, Ingrid, I just don’t want you out there getting hurt. Plus it’s so easy to get lost on this land, I don’t want you to be scared.” replied Lily. She guided Ingrid inside towards the living room, both sitting down on the couch. 

The living room was enough to make anyone feel slightly claustrophobic. The space served as an entertainment room, a dining area, and even as a bedroom for Ingrid. The only real room of the house belonged to Lily and her boyfriend Jack. Lily and Ingrid had been living on their own most of their lives, only Lily really remembered their mother. 

“What time are you leaving in the morning?” questioned Ingrid. Lily could already tell that Ingrid was beginning to get sleepy. She stood up and walked to the other side of the room where she grabbed a tattered quilt to lay over Ingrid.

“It will be before you get up in the morning. I’ll make you some breakfast if you can just throw something in the microwave for lunch,” said Lily. She looked at Ingrid and gently smoothed her hair back, planting a kiss on her forehead. “I promise we’ll be back before you even get home.”

Lily walked away and flipped the light switch off. Ingrid swaddled herself in the quilt as she concentrated on the ceiling watching the fan spin around and around for hours. When she got bored of that, she watched car headlights transfigure the shadows on the wall. Although she was scared to admit it, Ingrid was frightened to spend her first morning alone without her sister. Lily had raised her all by herself without even providing for herself. That was part of the reason Lily would be gone; her and Jack were looking at enrolling in a community college to pick up the pieces of education where they left off after dropping out of high school. 

To Ingrid, Jack was an obstacle keeping her away from her sister. His unkempt, curly hair and graphic t-shirts nauseated her. He had been with Lily for only a couple months, but decided to wedge his way not only into her life, but even their home. Most nights at the dinner table ended with raised voices or empty threats, which is why Ingrid would excuse herself to go outside. Even as she lay awake, she couldn’t stop thinking about the lightning bugs.

Every night she would go out with a mason jar and see how many of them she could catch in one motion. Most of the time they would fly away before getting anywhere near the jar, but she kept a tally of how many she caught each day in the front of her yellow spiral notebook she also kept her math notes in.

The last thing she remembered before falling asleep was thinking about how different it would be if Lily wanted to catch the fireflies, too.

***

As the morning sunshine cast its light through the large living room windows, Ingrid rolled over to ignore the nagging, natural reminder to wake up. It wasn’t until Jack stepped into the living room that she opened her eyes lazily.

“Can you tell your sister that I’ll be in the car waiting for her? She doesn’t seem to want to get out of bed. I tried.” Jack groaned. The bags under his eyes seemed to imply that it wasn’t an easy night for either of them.

“Yeah, okay.” Ingrid said without hesitation. Jack left through the front door and revved up his red pickup truck. She didn’t leave the couch for a few minutes, thinking that it was strange that her sister hadn’t got up to make breakfast like she promised. 

Ingrid knocked on her bedroom door before she let herself into the room. As the door screeched open, she noticed that Lily’s room was in all kinds of disarray. All of the dresser drawers were flung open, bed sheets had slid off the corners. The contents of the mini trash can that normally sat beside her desk had been strewn about the floor. Lily rested in her twin bed quietly, watching as Ingrid entered the room.

“I’m sorry.” she said faintly, barely even opening her eyes. 

“Sorry about what?” Ingrid said uneasily. 

“I can’t go with him, sis. I can’t. He did this to me.” Lily couldn’t even produce a faint smile. 

“He did what to you? Are you hurt?” Ingrid raised her voice. Lily began to rise from bed, but froze when she heard loud footsteps stomping across the hardwood floor. She readjusted her position to appear as if she hadn’t moved from when she was sleeping.

“What the hell are you doing, sweetie? You know we have a 45 minute drive to get to the college. Put some pants on and get moving.” Jack’s temper began to rise. He shoved me aside to re-enter the bedroom. He had his truck keys in hand, clenching them in his fist as he waved them in the air.

 Ingrid retorted with a stern look at Jack. Her eyes widened with anger and she began to ball her fists in a way that any protective younger sister would.

“Don’t talk to my sister like that.” she remarked in a trembling voice. 

“I’ve got this, buddy. I’ve got this.” Lily said weakly. She stood to her feet, wobbling over to the dresser. Ingrid noticed bruises the size of apples on her legs as she pulled the leggings over to cover them. She didn’t change out of the oversized t-shirt from the night before, either. “Jack, leave.”

“Excuse me?” he replied, in denial of the previous statement.

“That’s right, leave. I can’t do this today. I can’t do this right now.” Lily tried to be as firm as she could. Her soft voice still couldn’t lend itself to be stern.

“But what about the tour? What about the college?”

“Why the hell does that matter now, Jack? Why would that even matter when you see that I can barely stand up right now?” Lily sat back down on the edge of the bed. Lily buried her head deep into her hands and began to sob. Ingrid sat beside her at the foot of her bed, holding on to her leg trying to comfort her.

Jack threw his hands up in defeat and stormed out. He backed out of the gravel driveway and turned some alternative music station up really high to clear his mind.

Lily patted Ingrid’s head as she sat at her feet consoling her. Ingrid had the tightest grip on Lily’s right leg, arms locked around it and her head leaning against it. Ingrid looked up at her sister, scared of what was next for them. Scared of Lily’s broken heart.

“Lily, why’d he do that to you?” Ingrid asked earnestly. Lily looked away for a while and couldn’t seem to concentrate on the question. During a break between the muffled tears, she gained the composure to respond.

“He wanted me to leave you here.” Lily closed her eyes as she said it. Ingrid released her grip and backed away from Lily. “He wanted us to move from here and give you up for good.” Ingrid stood up and stood at eye level with her sister.

“I knew I hated him. I knew he didn’t belong with you Lily. How could he say that Lily, how could he even think--” Ingrid started pacing the room amidst the clutter. As she rambled, Ingrid stopped as she watched Lily’s eyes close and her body collectively begin to fail as she fell limply into her own bedroom floor.

*** 

They had no close family members, so the only person Ingrid knew to call was their preacher. A bulletin from a few Sundays ago was stuck on the fridge by a blue, flower magnet. She flipped the bulletin over to find the phone number of First United Methodist Church and dialed the number on the landline. The phone rang a few times before she was greeted by an automated message:

If you’re looking for more information on child service programs, press 2. If you’re looking for more information on Wednesday and Sunday night programming, press 3. If you’re looking to reach pastor Jake Ingram, press 4.

She pressed 4 and anxiously awaited someone on the other end to answer.

“Hey it’s Jake Ingram, how can I help you today?” said a voice from the other end of the line.

“Pastor Jake my sister is dying I think.” Ingrid said, holding back her own tears.

“Wait, wait, wait. Hold on now, who is this talking?” The tone in Jake’s voice shifted completely.

“Ingrid Jane speaking, s  ir, my sister, she’s dying.” Ingrid didn’t even stop to breathe between her sentences. 

“Lily Mae? What happened to her? Where are you both? I’ll come get you right now.” From Ingrid’s side of the phone, she could hear that Jake was beginning to grab his keys and belongings to head that way.

“Our house. She’s in her room, on the ground. We live at 115 Vine Street. No wait, maybe it’s 511. No, it’s 115. We’re the first house on the right.”

“Okay, I’ll be there soon. Don’t leave, okay? I’m on my way. Did you call an ambulance?”

“No, sir, we can’t. We don’t have the money. Should I call an ambulance?”

The phone line was just static for a few seconds.

“Damn, alright. Okay Ingrid don’t move. I’m on my way. You hear me? Don’t leave her.” Jake hung up in an instant. 

Ingrid knelt beside her sister, locking one arm with her, using the other to push the hair out of Lily’s face and to rub her arm. Lily would always rub Ingrid’s arm to remind her things would be okay. 

***

It was early afternoon when Jake pulled up and knocked furiously on the front door. Ingrid left Lily’s side momentarily to let him in and lead him towards the room. Jake grabbed Ingrid’s hand as they both kneeled next to her.

“We’re going to pick her up and take her to the couch. Can you do that Ingrid? I’ll grab her from under the arms if you grab the legs.” Jake told her. Lily’s body sagged in their arms as they both scooted across the hardwood floor taking tiny steps to avoid dropping her. They placed her on the couch and propped her head up with a few square pillows. 

“Is she going to be alright?” Ingrid asked as she pulled on the side of Jake’s blue jeans. Her big, brown eyes looked directly into his own, sending a wave of sadness rushing over him. 

“Fine,” he said. “Don’t you worry about her. We’re going to get her all healed up.” Jake got some frozen bags of peas and corn and placed them on a pillow underneath her legs. The pillows elevated her legs and had the frozen bags sitting on top of them to stop the bruises from getting any larger.

It was then Lily opened her eyes and saw a completely new person had materialized in front of her. She was less tense realizing it wasn’t Jack. “I’m sorry she called you,” Lily started to say. “We don’t have anyone else to call anymore.”

“It wasn’t a problem, Lily Mae. Who did this to you?” Jake asked as he rolled the bottom of her leggings up towards her knee. Lily winced as he rolled it further up her leg.

“He beat me, pastor. Jack beat me. I tried to defend myself but I couldn’t.”

“But why would he do that? Did you say something?” 

“He didn’t want a girl who wouldn’t listen to ‘em. He wanted us to get out of here and I told him no.” 

“You could have left me, Lily. I probably deserve it.” uttered Ingrid, who now sat criss-cross in the middle of the living room floor. 

“You can’t be saying that, Ingrid. You know I love you and would do anything for you. That’s the way it’s always been.” She looked at Ingrid with such a sad, tired expression. Her voice quivered just to get the words out.

Jake looked to Ingrid and placed a hand on her shoulder. He said, “You should let your sister rest and I’ll stay with her awhile to make sure she doesn’t get into anything else.” 

Having nothing else to do, Ingrid retreated to the backyard to spend some time in nature. She grabbed her yellow spiral notebook, a pen, and a mason jar. 

When she made it to the depths of the wooded area, Ingrid sprawled out in the grass and looked up at the sky. It was starting to change from a light blue to a yellow, orange hue. The sun minimized itself into an orb of light at the corner of the property, peeking through the trees one last time before nightfall. 

She wondered what she could do for her sister. Her sister who had been her provider, caretaker, and remained strong enough for the both of them over the years. 

If only she could see this light, then maybe she would smile again, Ingrid thought.

And then she remembered the lightning bugs.

Ingrid ran back inside and climbed on the cabinets in order to reach all the mason jars she could find. She placed them all on the steps of the back porch, lining both sides of the steps. She ran in and out so many times that the screen door squeaking caught the attention of the pastor.

“You staying safe out there, Ingrid Jane?” Jake inquired.

“Oh yes sir,” she replied. “Just working on a project.” She hurried back outside to begin her work. She picked up each mason jar individually and lifted it in the air in an attempt to catch a lightning bug or two inside it. The bugs usually didn’t cooperate, but tonight they did. They’re doing it for Lily, she thought. 10 mason jars later, Ingrid carried the jars in her arms up the steps and sat them on the kitchen table.

“Lily are you still in there?” she shouted towards the living room.

“Yes, she is,” responded Jake. “Keep it down, though. She’s almost asleep.”

“Tell her to close her eyes. I’ve got something for her.” Ingrid said, almost too excitedly.

“They’re closed, Ingrid. Don’t go scaring me or something, that’s too much for me right now.” Lily remarked.

Ingrid motioned for Jake to come over and help her. They each took a few in their arms and scattered them around the living room for Lily to see. Ingrid flipped the lights off for a grander effect.

“Okay sis, you can open your eyes now.” Ingrid said with a smile. As Lily opened her eyes, she started to tear up.

“Happy tears?” Jake asked, looking to see if he should be comforting Lily.

“I shouldn’t have ever made you catch these, Ingrid. I shouldn’t have ever let that man come live with us. Every night I scared you away just to survive another day with him.” She shook her head in remorse.

“That doesn’t matter now, Lily. I brought these for you.” Ingrid handed one of the jars over to her. “And maybe some other time you can catch them with me, too.”

“Of course, Ingrid. We can spend more time together now, just you and me. Would you like that?” Lily inquired. 

“That’s all I’ve really wanted,” Ingrid answered. She got up and tapped the glass of the mason jar, peering in at the little bug as it flickered its light. 

“I think I’m going to go ahead and head out. Y’all need anything else tonight?” said Jake as he stood up awkwardly and walked towards the door. 

“No sir,” they both chimed in to say. “Thank you for everything.”

The glow of the bugs danced off the walls of the living room, shining brighter than any gas lamp or overused candle wick could. After Jake left, Ingrid grabbed a folded fleece blanket from her sister’s room and placed it on the ground beside the couch. She rested her head against the blanket on the floor and faced her sister. Lily sat the mason jar on the back of the couch and stroked Ingrid’s head as she smiled down at her.

“You are my light, Lily Mae. I wouldn’t be here without you.” Ingrid’s eyes began to flutter shut as the words escaped her lips.

“We’re light to each other,” she replied. She let out a long sigh of relief before starting again. “But you better release these bugs in the morning or we’ll have tons of dead lightning bugs and no clean mason jars.” The pair fell soundly asleep in the living room beside each other. 

***