Twirl

As I scampered across the soft grass, butterflies burst from the flowers around me while gnats and flies swirled about in a panic. My skirt swished and fluttered in soft ripples as my legs propelled me across the lawn.

"Come on!" I yelled, as he shook his head and smiled. "You go ahead."

Running into the warm summer evening, I ignored my itching feet and focused on the crunchy grass beneath them that tickled my toes and warmed my heart. My hands brushed against the trees as I ran through the field around the pond's edge.

"There!" I yelled, pointing. The ducks quacked in protest, nonetheless waddling forward to see what I was pointing at.

"What?" he squinted his eyes, unable to see in the deepening dusk.

"Wait for it," I whispered, sticking my tongue between my teeth in a mischievous grin. Suddenly, tiny bursts of golden light began a symphony in the air around us. Swirling through the air, the lightening bugs gently circled around our area. One duck quacked crankily when one flew by his head, another tried to eat him.

"This is it?" he asked, clearly trying not to smile. "This was the marvelous occasion? The most spectacular thing of all time? The end all and be all of amazement?"

Grinning at him, I fed the ducks some bread as I shook my head. "Not even close. Wait a minute."

He looked around worriedly. "It's getting dark, and the turtles have gone. We'll have to go home soon."

Ignoring him, I climbed on a large reddish brown rock and kicked off my shoes. And waited.

"Girl, we should go home," he said, absently swatting at the ducks who nibbled his fingers and loudly protested for more bread.

"Almost," I said, my toes tingling in anticipation. The ducks grew louder, pushing against his legs and pulling at his shorts with their curious beaks.

"Girl, I think we should"--

"Now!" I cried, and began to twirl. Pirouetting on the walk, a swirl of light burst around me as the tiny lightning bugs twirled in their own orbits. Spiraling from my head to my toes, my skirt burst into a small star burst as it spun around me, gently folding and swaying with my every move. As the stars emerged and the lightening bugs tightened their glorious dance, I twirled from the last burst of dusk to the falling of night.

Slowly, the lightening bugs dissipated like tiny stars over the water, fading into the night. Sliding my feet into my shoes, I took his hand and smiled at his hanging jaw.

"And that"-- I said decisively, "That is how you twirl."