(no subject)
title: Fireflies
word wount: 2000+
notes: bb!bandom. Based on #273 of my 300 prompts list.
"I don't want to do it next weekend," Jon stomped when his mom tried to console him, telling him Tom would be back and they could do it next weekend. "I want to do it now."
"Well honey, you can't. Tom's visiting his grandma right now."
"I don't care, why can't his mommy bring him back?" When Tom went away for the weekend, Jon acted as if it were the end of the world, spending all day after school Friday storming around the house with his little arms crossed over his chest, eyebrows knit, and a permanent pout on his lips. They were supposed to camp out in Jon's backyard that weekend eating marshmallows and telling scary ghost stories until they were both too scared to stay out and ran inside to hide in Jon's bed.
"Why don't you ask your brothers to camp out back with you?" She suggested and Jon glared even harder.
"Because Mike and Bill are stupid," he huffed earning him a stern look from his mom.
"Well then I guess you'll just have to wait until next weekend," she told him, straightening up again to continue making dinner before his dad came home.
Jon just stormed out of the house into the backyard and climbed up in his tree house, muttering angrily to himself as played with the toys he'd put up there and waited until he heard his dad pull up so he could try to get him to fix it. He fell asleep in a heap on his favorite blanket before then and was woken up by his dad shaking him lightly.
"Jonny," he said in a sing-song tone. "Jon, c'mon, dinners done."
Yawning, Jon sat up and shook his head. "I don't want to eat."
"Why not?"
"Because Tom's at his grandma's house."
"He'll be back before you know it," he dad told him, climbing a little higher to sit inside the tree house with him.
"I want him back now," he pouted, moving to crawl into his dad's lap. "Why can't he come back?"
"Because his grandma missed him and he missed her too. Like when you miss Nana."
Jon just sighed and snuggled into his dad's chest with his blanket held tight in his arms. "But he saw her all day."
"I know, kiddo. I know," he dad said, rubbing his back as Jon finally began to calm down. "Now c'mon, are you gonna come eat with us?"
Jon nodded and stood up out of his dads lap, waiting for him to climb down before Jon did and held onto his hand as he followed him inside to eat.
• • • • • • • •
After dinner, Jon helped his mom clear off the table before going outside to play with Marley for a little while before it got too dark. "C'mon boy, c'mon," he said, waving a ball in front of his nose before throwing it across the yard and accidentally over the fence. "Aw, sorry boy," he frowned as Marley jumped up against the fence barking for his ball. "I'll go get daddy."
Before he turned around though, the ball came back over the fence and Marley immediately went for it. Taking it in his mouth and running away with it expecting Jon to chase him.
Jon didn't though, instead went over to climb up on the fence to look over. "Hello?" He called when he didn't see anyone, looking around in confusion. "Hello! Who threw Marley's ball back? Where are you?" He asked, a little frustrated that no one seemed to be there. With a heavy sigh, he jumped off into the grass and ran after Marley to get the ball back so he could throw it over the fence again.
And again it came back, but again Jon wasn't quick enough to catch whoever it was. So he tried again and again until he got wise and decided to look through the fence instead of climbing to look over it.
"Ah ha, I caught you," he yelled when a little boy about his age, small though, ran out from behind a tree to retrieve the ball and throw it back over. "Who are you?" He demanded.
The little boy froze in the middle of his yard and stared blankly at the fence as Jon yelled through it. "Um..." he started, eyes darting around suspiciously before he carefully walked toward the fence. "I'm Ryan," he said, trying to look through it at Jon.
"Ryan?" Jon tried to remember if he knew anyone named Ryan, but drew a blank. "How old are you? Are you in my class? How come I've never seen you? Why were you hiding from me?" Jon asked a million questions a minute and Ryan just stared in bewilderment.
"Yeah, Ryan," he nodded before looking down to count on his fingers to make sure he told him the right number. "Six," he said, shrugging at Jon's other questions he asked too fast for Ryan to keep up and answer. "Who are you?"
Jon smiled to find out the kid was six so they were really close in age. "I'm Jon Walker and I'm seven and my best friend is Tom Conrad and I have a dog named Marley, you should come over and meet him."
"Okay," Ryan said, smiling a little as he ran off to his gate and went around to Jon's knocking loudly.
"Coming," Jon squealed, running over and pulling the string to open it and let Ryan in. "Hi," he grinned, quickly grabbing the other boys wrists and tugging him along into his backyard. "See, there he is," Jon pointed as Marley ran at them and Ryan curled inward a little in fear just before he knocked him down and started licking his face while Jon stood next to them giggling wildly. "He likes you already."
It wasn't long before Ryan was laughing too, remembering the ball in his hand and throwing it as far as he could from where he was on the ground. Marley barked happily and ran off as Ryan pulled himself up off the ground and dusted himself off before wiping his face on his shirt. "So what do you do?" Ryan asked curiously, glancing around the yard and spotting the tree house. "You have a tree house?"
"Yeah, wanna see? It's really cool inside," he told him, already running over to the tree and climbing up. "C'mon Ryan, come see," he called down to the other boy still standing on the ground and looking up.
"Um, isn't it kind high?" He asked nervously, kicking at the ground a little.
"It's not that high, c'mon. Here, you can grab my hand and I'll make sure you don't fall," he offered, leaning down to hold his hand out and smiling encouragingly.
Ryan looked uneasy about it, but was eager to have a new friend so he started climbing up. Taking Jon's hand when he could reach it and letting him help pull him up. "This is really cool," he grinned once he was standing inside and looking around at all the toys Jon had thrown about up there.
"See, told you so," he said, all smiles as he watched Ryan looking around. "Me and Tom come up here all the time and play army men and space astronauts at night and eat all kinds of junk and when it gets really dark we catch fireflies," he told him, pointing at the jars on the windowsill of the tree house. "But my mom makes us let them go because they're mommies would worry about them if they didn't come home."
Ryan wondered around inspecting the place as Jon talked, looking over at the mention of fireflies. "What are those?"
"You don't know what fireflies are?" Jon was shocked. "They're like little bugs that fly around and their butts light up," he explained, giggling at himself.
Ryan started giggling too, amazed though because they sounded cool. "I want to see one," he told him. "Do you think we could catch some?" He asked shyly.
"Yeah!" Jon exclaimed, nodding happily. "It's not dark enough yet, but soon."
"Okay," Ryan smiled, sitting down on the floor to start playing with Jon's toys. "I wish I had as many toys as this," he said wistfully as Jon joined him on the floor to play with him.
• • • • • • • •
Once it really started to get dark, Jon's mom came out to get him and Marley inside. "Jon, baby, where are you?" She called already walking over to the tree house knowingly.
"Mom," he said, peaking his head out the window. "Mommy, mommy, come here. Look, I found a friend."
"Oh really? What's his name?" His mom just laughed, assuming he'd probably caught a lizard in a show box or something. But when she got closer, she saw another little boy stand up next to him.
"Ryan, his name's Ryan. Ryan, come here, this is my mommy," he said, pulling Ryan closer to the window.
"Oh, well hello," she smiled, curious though as to where the kid had come from. "Where do you live?"
Ryan waved a little and pointed over to the house next to them. "Over there," he told her.
"I didn't know there were any other kids living here except Jon and Tom," she said thoughtfully. "Does you mom know you're here."
Ryan frowned a little and shook his head. "She's not home," he told her, looking worried.
"Your dad?"
Ryan shook his head. "I don't have one."
"Brothers or sisters?"
"I don't have any."
"And no babysitter?"
"Nope."
"Okay, well when does your mom get home?" She asked as Jon's dad came out to announce that Tom was on the phone.
"Tom," he shrieked, flying out of the tree house and into the house to get the phone.
"Later," Ryan answered, unsure of what time exactly. "She has to work at night and I was supposed to be in bed."
Jon's mom just frowned. "Well you can stay here until she gets home and then we'll take you home."
Ryan nodded and looked up at Jon coming back out talking loudly on the phone.
"Tom, I found the best new friend ever," he told him as he tried to climb back up with one hand. "We're gonna catch fireflies and eat junk and do all kinds of fun stuff."
Ryan just stood there as Jon's mom helped Jon up and told them to be careful before going back inside. "I'll check in on you guys in a little bit."
"Okay mom, we'll just be here," he called after her before going back to talking to Tom while Ryan stayed where he was.
"Was that your best friend?" He asked when Jon finally hung up.
"Yeah, that was Tom, he said he wants to be your friend too. We can all be best friends, I bet you'll like him. He's really cool like me too."
Ryan smiled at that, he liked that idea. He'd never been good at making friends, but having two now was like a dream come true.
"C'mon," Jon said as he got up and went to the widow. "The fireflies should be out soon." He flipped off the small light inside once Ryan was standing next to him, handing him a jar and waiting until he saw a small flicker of light just outside. "See look, did you see? There was one right there."
Ryan hadn't seen that one, but it wasn't long before more started appearing. Flying around outside while Jon leaned out to capture one in his jar to show Ryan.
"Neat, huh?"
Ryan just nodded, sitting on the small bench by the window and laying his head on the windowsill to look out at them.
"Aren't you gonna catch any?" Jon asked, looking confused.
Ryan shook his head. "I like watching them fly around," he told him.
Jon made a face and then let the one in his jar go before putting it down to sit down next to Ryan and do the same thing. "You're right, I like watching them fly around too."
word wount: 2000+
notes: bb!bandom. Based on #273 of my 300 prompts list.
"I don't want to do it next weekend," Jon stomped when his mom tried to console him, telling him Tom would be back and they could do it next weekend. "I want to do it now."
"Well honey, you can't. Tom's visiting his grandma right now."
"I don't care, why can't his mommy bring him back?" When Tom went away for the weekend, Jon acted as if it were the end of the world, spending all day after school Friday storming around the house with his little arms crossed over his chest, eyebrows knit, and a permanent pout on his lips. They were supposed to camp out in Jon's backyard that weekend eating marshmallows and telling scary ghost stories until they were both too scared to stay out and ran inside to hide in Jon's bed.
"Why don't you ask your brothers to camp out back with you?" She suggested and Jon glared even harder.
"Because Mike and Bill are stupid," he huffed earning him a stern look from his mom.
"Well then I guess you'll just have to wait until next weekend," she told him, straightening up again to continue making dinner before his dad came home.
Jon just stormed out of the house into the backyard and climbed up in his tree house, muttering angrily to himself as played with the toys he'd put up there and waited until he heard his dad pull up so he could try to get him to fix it. He fell asleep in a heap on his favorite blanket before then and was woken up by his dad shaking him lightly.
"Jonny," he said in a sing-song tone. "Jon, c'mon, dinners done."
Yawning, Jon sat up and shook his head. "I don't want to eat."
"Why not?"
"Because Tom's at his grandma's house."
"He'll be back before you know it," he dad told him, climbing a little higher to sit inside the tree house with him.
"I want him back now," he pouted, moving to crawl into his dad's lap. "Why can't he come back?"
"Because his grandma missed him and he missed her too. Like when you miss Nana."
Jon just sighed and snuggled into his dad's chest with his blanket held tight in his arms. "But he saw her all day."
"I know, kiddo. I know," he dad said, rubbing his back as Jon finally began to calm down. "Now c'mon, are you gonna come eat with us?"
Jon nodded and stood up out of his dads lap, waiting for him to climb down before Jon did and held onto his hand as he followed him inside to eat.
• • • • • • • •
After dinner, Jon helped his mom clear off the table before going outside to play with Marley for a little while before it got too dark. "C'mon boy, c'mon," he said, waving a ball in front of his nose before throwing it across the yard and accidentally over the fence. "Aw, sorry boy," he frowned as Marley jumped up against the fence barking for his ball. "I'll go get daddy."
Before he turned around though, the ball came back over the fence and Marley immediately went for it. Taking it in his mouth and running away with it expecting Jon to chase him.
Jon didn't though, instead went over to climb up on the fence to look over. "Hello?" He called when he didn't see anyone, looking around in confusion. "Hello! Who threw Marley's ball back? Where are you?" He asked, a little frustrated that no one seemed to be there. With a heavy sigh, he jumped off into the grass and ran after Marley to get the ball back so he could throw it over the fence again.
And again it came back, but again Jon wasn't quick enough to catch whoever it was. So he tried again and again until he got wise and decided to look through the fence instead of climbing to look over it.
"Ah ha, I caught you," he yelled when a little boy about his age, small though, ran out from behind a tree to retrieve the ball and throw it back over. "Who are you?" He demanded.
The little boy froze in the middle of his yard and stared blankly at the fence as Jon yelled through it. "Um..." he started, eyes darting around suspiciously before he carefully walked toward the fence. "I'm Ryan," he said, trying to look through it at Jon.
"Ryan?" Jon tried to remember if he knew anyone named Ryan, but drew a blank. "How old are you? Are you in my class? How come I've never seen you? Why were you hiding from me?" Jon asked a million questions a minute and Ryan just stared in bewilderment.
"Yeah, Ryan," he nodded before looking down to count on his fingers to make sure he told him the right number. "Six," he said, shrugging at Jon's other questions he asked too fast for Ryan to keep up and answer. "Who are you?"
Jon smiled to find out the kid was six so they were really close in age. "I'm Jon Walker and I'm seven and my best friend is Tom Conrad and I have a dog named Marley, you should come over and meet him."
"Okay," Ryan said, smiling a little as he ran off to his gate and went around to Jon's knocking loudly.
"Coming," Jon squealed, running over and pulling the string to open it and let Ryan in. "Hi," he grinned, quickly grabbing the other boys wrists and tugging him along into his backyard. "See, there he is," Jon pointed as Marley ran at them and Ryan curled inward a little in fear just before he knocked him down and started licking his face while Jon stood next to them giggling wildly. "He likes you already."
It wasn't long before Ryan was laughing too, remembering the ball in his hand and throwing it as far as he could from where he was on the ground. Marley barked happily and ran off as Ryan pulled himself up off the ground and dusted himself off before wiping his face on his shirt. "So what do you do?" Ryan asked curiously, glancing around the yard and spotting the tree house. "You have a tree house?"
"Yeah, wanna see? It's really cool inside," he told him, already running over to the tree and climbing up. "C'mon Ryan, come see," he called down to the other boy still standing on the ground and looking up.
"Um, isn't it kind high?" He asked nervously, kicking at the ground a little.
"It's not that high, c'mon. Here, you can grab my hand and I'll make sure you don't fall," he offered, leaning down to hold his hand out and smiling encouragingly.
Ryan looked uneasy about it, but was eager to have a new friend so he started climbing up. Taking Jon's hand when he could reach it and letting him help pull him up. "This is really cool," he grinned once he was standing inside and looking around at all the toys Jon had thrown about up there.
"See, told you so," he said, all smiles as he watched Ryan looking around. "Me and Tom come up here all the time and play army men and space astronauts at night and eat all kinds of junk and when it gets really dark we catch fireflies," he told him, pointing at the jars on the windowsill of the tree house. "But my mom makes us let them go because they're mommies would worry about them if they didn't come home."
Ryan wondered around inspecting the place as Jon talked, looking over at the mention of fireflies. "What are those?"
"You don't know what fireflies are?" Jon was shocked. "They're like little bugs that fly around and their butts light up," he explained, giggling at himself.
Ryan started giggling too, amazed though because they sounded cool. "I want to see one," he told him. "Do you think we could catch some?" He asked shyly.
"Yeah!" Jon exclaimed, nodding happily. "It's not dark enough yet, but soon."
"Okay," Ryan smiled, sitting down on the floor to start playing with Jon's toys. "I wish I had as many toys as this," he said wistfully as Jon joined him on the floor to play with him.
• • • • • • • •
Once it really started to get dark, Jon's mom came out to get him and Marley inside. "Jon, baby, where are you?" She called already walking over to the tree house knowingly.
"Mom," he said, peaking his head out the window. "Mommy, mommy, come here. Look, I found a friend."
"Oh really? What's his name?" His mom just laughed, assuming he'd probably caught a lizard in a show box or something. But when she got closer, she saw another little boy stand up next to him.
"Ryan, his name's Ryan. Ryan, come here, this is my mommy," he said, pulling Ryan closer to the window.
"Oh, well hello," she smiled, curious though as to where the kid had come from. "Where do you live?"
Ryan waved a little and pointed over to the house next to them. "Over there," he told her.
"I didn't know there were any other kids living here except Jon and Tom," she said thoughtfully. "Does you mom know you're here."
Ryan frowned a little and shook his head. "She's not home," he told her, looking worried.
"Your dad?"
Ryan shook his head. "I don't have one."
"Brothers or sisters?"
"I don't have any."
"And no babysitter?"
"Nope."
"Okay, well when does your mom get home?" She asked as Jon's dad came out to announce that Tom was on the phone.
"Tom," he shrieked, flying out of the tree house and into the house to get the phone.
"Later," Ryan answered, unsure of what time exactly. "She has to work at night and I was supposed to be in bed."
Jon's mom just frowned. "Well you can stay here until she gets home and then we'll take you home."
Ryan nodded and looked up at Jon coming back out talking loudly on the phone.
"Tom, I found the best new friend ever," he told him as he tried to climb back up with one hand. "We're gonna catch fireflies and eat junk and do all kinds of fun stuff."
Ryan just stood there as Jon's mom helped Jon up and told them to be careful before going back inside. "I'll check in on you guys in a little bit."
"Okay mom, we'll just be here," he called after her before going back to talking to Tom while Ryan stayed where he was.
"Was that your best friend?" He asked when Jon finally hung up.
"Yeah, that was Tom, he said he wants to be your friend too. We can all be best friends, I bet you'll like him. He's really cool like me too."
Ryan smiled at that, he liked that idea. He'd never been good at making friends, but having two now was like a dream come true.
"C'mon," Jon said as he got up and went to the widow. "The fireflies should be out soon." He flipped off the small light inside once Ryan was standing next to him, handing him a jar and waiting until he saw a small flicker of light just outside. "See look, did you see? There was one right there."
Ryan hadn't seen that one, but it wasn't long before more started appearing. Flying around outside while Jon leaned out to capture one in his jar to show Ryan.
"Neat, huh?"
Ryan just nodded, sitting on the small bench by the window and laying his head on the windowsill to look out at them.
"Aren't you gonna catch any?" Jon asked, looking confused.
Ryan shook his head. "I like watching them fly around," he told him.
Jon made a face and then let the one in his jar go before putting it down to sit down next to Ryan and do the same thing. "You're right, I like watching them fly around too."