A Warm Summer Night- A Luska Solo
It was a warm summer night; the last bits of chill in the air had vanished. Luska was lying on a large blanket that had been spread out over the grass, so as not to get her nightgown stained. She held a plush tiger, Sunny, tightly in her arms; he was slightly misshapen and some of the stitches were loose, but none of that was important. She had made him herself while at the facility. Some might view such a thing as a reminder of a bad time, but when she held the tiger that she had sewn with her own two hands, she knew that he, at least, would never leave her.
Luska stared off into the distance; the stars were pretty, but those weren’t what she was looking at. She was watching the fireflies flitter about a small distance off, they were so pretty. Their intermittent flashes of light amazed her. She felt at peace. She held Sunny up to make sure he also got a good view of the lights. Sure that he had a chance to get a proper viewing; she pulled him back in and wrapped her arms tight around him.
All of her new siblings were fast asleep and in bed, which is where she had been. At least that is where she had been until Vilyum had woken her and asked if she wanted to see the fireflies. She still had trouble thinking of him as her dad, he was nice and seemed to care, but she just wasn’t ready; he cared now, but how did she know he wouldn’t just leave her as well. She tried to push such thoughts from her head though; she was enjoying herself and that’s what she wanted to focus on. “Thanks for waking Lulu up, Vilyum. The fireflies are real pretty” Despite all her worries, she was thankful. She oftentimes envied how her siblings would go out and do things she was too nervous to try. She always found herself cloistered in her bedroom, playing with her dolls; she felt like an afterthought. It was nice that he would think to wake her up and bring her out to see such beauty. It made her feel important to be thought of and given such special treatment.
Vilyum couldn’t help but smile as he watched her stare at the fireflies in awe. He was worried about her; he had been since he had brought her home. She didn’t seem to want to do anything other than stay in her room. The other girls tried to play with her, but she wanted to stay in her own little world. He couldn’t blame her; what had happened to her, being taken back to the labs and left by her first adoptive parent, would have been traumatic for anyone. It would take time for her to be comfortable; as much as he might want to, he couldn’t force it; that would solve nothing. He knew she loved pretty things and when he saw the fireflies flying about, he couldn’t help but think she might enjoy them. He was glad she had accepted his offer; he really hoped that getting outside some would inspire her to break out of her shell. “You are most welcome Luska. If you would like, we could do this again, whenever you like; at least as long as the fireflies are still out.”
She couldn’t help but grin at Vilyum’s offer. She loved the idea of doing this regularly, but her smile was interrupted by thoughts of how he might just drop her off. It was hard to bring herself to trust him; she really wanted to. After thinking about it, she realized that even though it might end at any moment, she might get sent back to the labs, for now she could have the fireflies; she would try and dwell on that and not worry about what could come after. “That sounds like it would be nice; Lulu would like that.”
“Ok then, it’s a deal.” He had no guarantee that late night firefly viewing would help, but he could hope and he certainly didn’t think it would hurt. It was getting late, but he wasn’t worried about the time; none of them had anything planned for tomorrow; Luska could sleep in and he could do with a little less sleep when the morning commotion of everyone else waking up woke him.
The next half hour passed, the peaceful silence, only interrupted by the occasional giggle, and Luska drifted off to sleep on the blanket. Not wanting to wake her, Vilyum walked over and gently picked her up. She certainly was no toddler, but she was far from too heavy to lift. He didn’t know if tonight would help, but he remained hopeful. Regardless, all he could do was take it one day at a time and hope things improved. He wasn’t worried though; the coldness of winter has passed; the warmth of summer was upon them.
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