cloudy skies and glow flies

7/31/2019 Cloudy Skies and Glow Flies

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Cloudy Skies and Glow Flies

Ben Burnham

The time was feeling right to pay a visit to the Great Spring.

I forced my sleepy eyes open with much effort, internally debating the idea of staying in bed for

just one more hour. But with the peaceful summer nights warm air flowing through my open window, I

felt my remaining tiredness melt away. Envisioning myself standing at the shore of the Great Spring

provided me with the last bit of energy I needed to push myself from my bed and hastily throw on some

clothes. I took one last look through the screen at the street below, deciding it was warm enough that I

could dress lightly.

I shut the door behind me and descended the three or so stone steps that took me onto the

sidewalk. It was very late in the afternoon; dusk, for all intents and purposes, but it never got dark here.

Our thick ceiling of clouds glowed a bright pink during the day, switching to a deep purple when our sun,

wherever it was, set. Its ever-present illumination meant that we had no need for streetlights, our

neighborhoods always bathed in a dim shade of either purple or pink, the twinkling lights from the

buildings and the swarms of glow flies taking care of the rest.

Our eternal cloud cover also meant that I never saw the sky, but I cant say that I missed it. If I

hadnt been enjoying a lazy afternoon of sleep that day, I probably would have traveled to the park.

There Id find a comfortable spot in the soft grass to lie on my back, likely spending hours picking out

shapes and patterns in the endlessly swirling clouds above.

There was something so calming about the city at the edge of the afternoon, the soft dimming

of the night taking its hold as everyone emerged from their homes to grab a bite to eat or to savor a cold


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drink at one of the bars. It was all compact enough that everything was within a short distance from

each other; a series of moving sidewalks known as the Belt had entrances in each neighborhood.

Hopping onto these automatic walkways took us up above the streets and into a crisscrossing network

of branching pathways about thirty stories in the air. The roads on the ground were exclusively for bikes,

while the concrete sidewalks like the one I was traversing were mostly for short journeys through the

immediate area. The Belt, though, was my favorite way to travel; it could get me anywhere in the city

within a half hour, forty minutes at most if there happened to be a lot of foot traffic. The best part

about it was that all I had to do was stand still, letting the atmosphere of the city wash over me as I was

reliably pulled along for the ride.

I checked for cyclists before heading into the street, the nearest entrance to the Belt being right

across the way. With the locals out in full force as they often were on nights like this, the neighborhood

was moderately packed but not too crowded. I noticed as I approached the Belt stop that the lottery

vendor had set his stand up right by it: his usual place.

Step right up, folks, take a shot at the lottery! Winners are chosen every day; feed your need

for adventure and excitement, journey through the clouds and into the universe above! Havent you

ever wondered what lies beyond this city? The cost of travel is high but each lottery winner gets an all

expenses paid trip to any nearby settlement of their choosing, how about you, sir?

I considered it for the briefest of moments and then shrugged, digging into my pocket to grab a

bill. The man took it, waving it dramatically in the air for the group of onlookers to see.

Will he be the next winner? Five winners are chosen every day from this booth alone, and

weve got locations scattered all throughout the city. Its certainly a possibility, folks.

Annnnnnnnnnnnnd, here we go!


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With a flourish, he slid my money through the slot of a small metal box that had been placed on

the stool in front of him, the crowd watching in anticipation as the boxs little dial spun in a clockwise

motion, stopped, reversed direction for a few seconds, and then stopped again. A thick puff of neon-

green smoke emerged from the top of the machine, lighting up the surrounding area as it formed letters

in the air in front of the vendors eyes.

Lose.

The crowd voiced their disappointment at the result, one onlooker even reaching over to give

me a sympathetic pat on the shoulder. The vendor was quick to point out that they all still had their own

chances to win, as only four people had won from his stand that day. Laughing softly to myself, I

disconnected from the crowd and took out another bill, this time sliding it into a machine near the Belt.

Once the gate lowered, I stepped onto the moving sidewalk as it took me up, signs cautioning me to

hold onto the railings during this steep incline. I looked back down at the lottery stand, watching the

crowd grow smaller the higher up I went. I heard from the top, though distantly, more grumbles of

disappointment as the Belt leveled itself off, curved left, and took me through one of the nearby

skyscrapers and out its other side.

Up here was a completely different world: the many malls, bars, and restaurants, all on massive

platforms kept in the air by a series of propellers, served as a stark contrast to the mostly-residential

neighborhoods on the ground. Brightly lit signs directed us to bear either left or right when the Belt split

into two; they also informed us whenever we had reached a stop and the chance to exit to one of the

nearby groupings of attractions. I paid little attention to the signs, having known the city by heart for

many years. The Belt curved downwards, taking me through the ceiling of a noisy bar, the excited

chatter of its customers and the music playing from its sound system occupying the airspace for a few

short seconds before I was outside again, the billowing clouds above, I noticed, then fully purple. I saw


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that I would soon be passing through a small swarm of orange glow flies, their dots of light visible even

at this distance. I gently brushed the bugs aside as I passed through, scattering them in all directions. No

doubt attracted by the smell of food and the noises of the nightlife, the glow flies always ventured into

town in the evenings from their home at the Great Spring, their tiny multicolored beads of light a

defining feature of the city. It was, of course, illegal to kill or hurt them.

I took a glance behind me, becoming lost in thought as I watched the glinting dots of orange

light returning to the spot I had just forced them from. I thought about the lottery, and why I felt the

need to try it each time I passed one of those vendors, and why most people living here did the same.

Maybe it really was the hunger for adventure, the idea of visiting a new world and witnessing an entirely

different culture. I couldnt deny that it had its appeal, but all the same, I could never get as excited

about it as my neighbors seemed to. I loved living here, more than anything else, and maybe a part of

me feared that seeing another world would take away the magic of this one.

It had been hundreds of years since self-inflicted tragedy struck the planet where my species all

used to live, shattering it into many pieces, pieces which were then spread throughout the galaxy. Our

ancestors locked themselves away in underground shelters strong enough to withstand the blast,

shelters specifically designed to keep them alive as the bits of their planet were flung through space.

Only once they had slowed to a complete stop was it was time to re-emerge from their safe havens,

ready and eager to begin the process of rebuilding. Those stuck on each piece of planet had no way of

contacting or visiting any of the others, leaving them to develop their new societies from scratch and in

complete isolation. The piece of rock upon which I called home consisted of little civilization besides this

tiny city, with the Great Spring and its surrounding forest making up the rest. But things were changing

fast.


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Within the past thirty years, scientists on one of the pieces had developed a means to journey

into space, finally allowing us the chance to visit the other surviving civilizations of the planet that had

once been whole. Though only the richest of the rich could afford this travel on their own, the

government-sponsored lotteries were created to ensure that as many as possible could make use of

their newfound mobility, with the hope that a booming tourism industry on each piece of planet would

be the eventual result.

This place was a popular destination; tourists came from far and wide to visit the wondrous city

by the spring and to witness its mysterious glow flies. I didnt care for these tourists much at all; they

always made the streets and the Belt so crowded and they left behind such a mess.

I was shaken from my thoughts by the sounds of a jazz band on a nearby floating platform, the

always-unpredictable and rapidly-shifting melodies of the saxophone in particular catching my attention.

They played energetically, the lit up building behind them serving as their backdrop. A family on the Belt

going in the opposite direction marveled at the band. The father, I saw, carried with him a small city

map. The song ended a few seconds later, with the family cheering their approval.

Thanks a lot folks, swing by the Sky Lounge if you get the chance, its the building r ight behind

us and the next stop on the Belt; well be in there performing shortly. Theyve got great and affordable

food and drinks

Soon I was too far away to hear the rest of his advertisement, his voice fading as it was once

again replaced by the chatter of the many people on the nearby platforms and the low rumble of the

Belt .

It was still early in the summer, but I knew that the tourist season was beginning and that it

would reach its peak soon enough. I tried my best not to think about it.


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The buildings and shopping platforms thinned out as I neared the edge of the city. A sign here

informed Belt riders that we were reaching the end of the line, with the Great Spring serving as the last

stop. Those wanting to continue to the end would take the fork to the right, while all others would take

the left path to bring them back around in the other direction. I stayed to the right, and soon there was

nothing in front of me but the vast horizon: the wilderness down below and the morphing purple clouds

stretching endlessly beyond. The Great Spring wasnt visible from up here, so dense were the trees

around it that it couldnt even be pinpointed from the air. I always took a moment at this point to turn

back to the city, allowing myself another look at its tall glowing towers and curving belt roadways, it too

an incredible sight. I returned my gaze to the horizon just as a sign cautioned me to hold onto the rubber

railing, the Belt once again reaching a major slant, this time bringing me down into the wilderness. I

stepped off once I reached the ground, the city and the clouds above disappearing entirely from view as

I found myself under the forests thick canopy.

Lampposts dotted the trail on each side, the forest being the only place where the light from the

clouds didnt reach. There were no lights needed, though, at the Great Spring, which provided its own

illumination. I shivered slightly, the air always feeling cooler to me as I neared the water. The slight

tapping of each step I took on the firm dirt soon became the crunching of sand as the path ended and I

arrived at the waters edge.

Small specks of purple could be seen through the tiniest gaps in the trees, but the clouds glow

didnt reach here. The spring instead was its own light source, its water a shimmering light blue that lit

up the whole area, the canopy above trapping it in place. Glow flies of all colors hovered above the

waters surface and all along the shore, their glistening beads of light; yellow, blue, green, red, orange,

purple and pink, swarmed endlessly, the natural display amplified by its reflection off the water. I took a

few moments to stare in awe at them and watched as their mere existence produced intricate and


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infinite patterns of color, a never-ending painting of light, with the surrounding trees and water serving

as its canvas.

I told myself at that very moment that someday Id go. Someday Id win the lottery, or the price

of travel would come down. However it happened, I knew that Id one day be given the chance to

venture from this place and join the rest of my species in its moment of triumph, its newfound era of

exploration. We had ripped ourselves apart by our own doing, but we had rebuilt, and we were now

thriving. Id get to see the worlds that the rest of my kind had created; it was something that I knew Id

have to do before my life reached its end.

But for now, I decided, this was. comfortable. I liked it here; it was home, it always had been,

and I was at peace.

Again I felt a shiver, deciding then that it was time to head back. I had barely taken a step in the

direction of the Belt when I stumbled over a solid object in the sand. Surprised, I looked down to see a

glass bottle, one probably dropped by a tourist during their visit to the Great Spring. Sighing at the

existence of litter in such a beautiful place, I bent down to pick it up, taking a moment to stare at the

intrusive object that didnt belong, the glass around its peeling label glowing a bright blue against the

grains of sand.

cloudy skies and glow flies

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