Firefly Hearts

A sweet, little fairy tale.

There once was a tiny girl, smaller than all of the other girls of her age. She was so tiny that everyone thought she was younger than she truly was and she often passed for her little sister who was several years her junior.

When she had grown into an adult, the tiny girl was still mistaken for a child wherever she went and since she was a kind and gentle girl, and also shy, she did not think to correct those who believed that she was only a child. The tiny woman would pass through the streets with her head bent over her basket as she went on her errands for her mother. Her body was so slight and fragile looking that many suggested it would only take a light wind to knock her over, and so the people of the street markets, who saw her every day, took it upon themselves to protect her as if she were their own daughter.

One day as the tiny woman passed through the markets on her way to buy eggs, there was a scuffle between two large men. They did not see the tiny woman as she walked behind them, thinking to move quickly past, and was caught in between. The tiny woman was thrown to the ground and her head was hurt against the cobbled street.

The tiny woman’s mother was so anxious that she had been truly hurt that she vowed her daughter would never set foot outside of their home again. But the tiny woman protested.

“It was but an accident, mother. The men had no quarrel with me and they were honestly sorry to have hurt me so.” The tiny woman replied in a quiet voice. She held no grudge against the men and in truth, had forgiven their accident as soon as it had happened for she possessed a big heart and great kindness.

The men truly were sorry to have hurt so fragile and delicate a creature. As soon as they saw her tiny figure crumpled on the pavement their quarrel vanished and they both stooped to help the poor girl home and together, they laid her on her small cot in her mother’s home, apologizing all the while.

The people of the market street too were sorry such a thing had happened and admonished the men who had fought and hurt her, and also began to donate their goods to the tiny woman, bringing eggs and flour and milk to her doorstep so that she would have no need to travel beyond the tiny cottage’s porch.

The tiny woman, complying with her mother’s wishes, was confined to their small cottage on the outskirts of the city. But within the tiny woman was a large and strong heart and she wished more than anything that she could venture forth from the small house. She dreamt of great dreams larger than her small corner of the world, and she prayed daily that one day the door to her life would open and her heart would be lit aflame so that all may see her spirit.

So every night the tiny woman would sit before the largest window in the house, one that faced the open fields just beyond the city walls, and watched as the fireflies appeared in the dusk. They seemed as stars on earth, appearing one by one until all the fields were covered by the blinking lights. The tiny woman would watch this sight every night without fail, finding some hope in those blinking stars that were as fragile as she. And as she watched those sublunary stars, the tiny woman could not help but begin to believe in her own strength, kept prisoner, dormant within her small frame, waiting for the day when she would be sparked into lighting.

One night, the tiny woman watched the fireflies from her usual spot with her head resting upon her hands and her eyes drooping with fatigue for she was uncommonly tired from the day’s housework. As her eyelids dropped once she thought she had caught a movement through her twilight stars and brought her eyes open quickly, not quite sure if she had dreamt it. She had not, and as she raised her head in alert, she saw the fireflies disturbed, separating to let something pass through their territory.

No one had ever come through the firefly fields that the tiny woman had noticed and so she sat fully upright, feeling as if something significant were coming her way. The tiny woman’s mother had not yet returned from her sister’s house in the city and so she was alone to meet what came.

A dark horse appeared through the dusk carrying a rider upon its back, slumped against the reins as if it were in distress. The tiny woman, being a kind and gentle soul, hurried to open the door as the horse slowed before the house, seeming to know it was a friendly home and that its rider needed care.

The tiny woman stood on the cottage’s small porch, willing the horse to come nearer for she made her mother a promise that she would not leave the house. As the horse drew near, its rider fell to the ground. The tiny woman had much trouble dragging the person into the house but after several minutes, she had the rider laid upon the cottage’s only sofa. The tiny woman, who had seen no person besides her mother and the kind market people who delivered their goods in months, was astonished and nervous to aid a stranger. But she was a kind creature and cared for the rider much as she would care for her own mother, had she been ill.

The rider’s face had been covered by a riding hood and mask to keep away dust and so she removed these to administer to his needs. As her tiny hands reached to lay back his hood she uncovered a mass of shiny, curly black hair the likes of which she had never seen. But she had heard of such a head existing within the realm of the kingdom, as his head was well known and well loved, though she could not believe such a head would find itself to lie in her tiny cottage. Again she lifted her tiny hands to his face, to remove the cloth tied around his nose and mouth. As she did so she uncovered a straight and regal nose over full, rose tinted lips and a strong jaw, now relaxed with sleep.

The tiny woman’s body shook as she looked upon the sleeping rider. Never had she seen a man so beautiful, so strong and lovely in his sleeping form. Never before had she seen a prince of the realm. In his sleep she watched as his eyelids fluttered delicately and in an instant she fell deeply in love with the rider, vowing to herself that her heart would belong to none but him. In that blessed moment, her firefly heart began to sputter into lightning.  

She fed him and gave him drink, lifting his dark head with one tiny hand to let him sip from the cup. The tiny woman watched over him, day and night, until he finally awoke. Slowly his eyelids opened and the tiny woman saw him look about his surroundings until his bright blue eyes rested on her, sitting next to him on the floor. He said nothing at first, only looked at her and she knew he was thinking of her fragile frame and delicate appearance, for that was all anyone saw.

“How came I to be here?” he asked quietly.

“Your horse stopped at my house, sir.” She answered with her head bowed. “You seemed greatly ill, sir, and so I took the liberty of caring for you until you were well.”

“Do you care for all strange men who fall at your doorstep, or just princes?”

“I would care for anyone who has the need, sir.”

He raised himself onto one elbow and looked down on her prostrated figure. A strange feeling took over his heart just then and he felt humble in her presence. He could not imagine dishonesty in such a kind and delicate woman, and so he took her word for truth, knowing at once that he had met a rare being. He too had taken to watch the fireflies dance nightly, wondering at their purity and delicacy, but also their strength in their own innocence. The prince wished he could one day find a woman who unveiled the same lovely qualities of stars on earth. Only such a woman could understand his own heart, which fluttered in his chest like the fragile wings of those stars.

The prince raised her face to him with a gently shaking hand, not quite knowing why he needed to see her face just then. As he did so his own breath was taken from his frame as he saw her large, innocent eyes as they watched his own face. The tiny woman looked at him with utter devotion and love from brilliantly lucid eyes of green flecked with gold that seemed to dance and shutter. As prince he had come to recognize false love and adoration from people by looking into their eyes, he could see from this tiny woman’s that her love was deeper and more delicate than any he had before encountered, and doubted he would ever encounter again. In the space of a moment, his heart met hers and became one, both sparking from dull embers into fire.

The tiny woman and the prince were soon married with the blessing of the whole kingdom and they lived happily together forever after. And every evening, from their castle within the city walls, they watched the fireflies out in the fields as they danced and shuttered like stars on earth. 

Author's Note

I welcome feedback. Please tell me if can improve anywhere.