Of fireflies and worms...

I

Kampung Baru


My daughter caught a firefly while playing in the field one day. She carefully carried the butterfly in her cupped hands and showed it to me.

"What is this, mom?"

"Itu kelip-kelip, sayang"

"It looks like the glow-in-the-dark skeleton yang cik Li gantung dalam bilik dia lah, mom"

My daughter wanted to keep and show it to her friends, but I told her that it would die soon as it has a very short life-span.

"Let it be free and enjoy every moment of it"

She was rather hesitant, so I made a promise to bring her to a place where she could play with thousands of beautiful fireflies. She asked,

"Are we going to the zoo, mom?"

***

II

Kampung Kuantan

I drove all the way to Kampung Kuantan, a few kilometres away from Kuala Selangor, to fulfil my promises to my beloved daughter. We waited from 6.30pm to see the firefly colony. By 7pm, the sky had turned reddish orange, signifying that it's now safe for the fireflies to come out and play.

After an hour or so, my daughter started to complain about the mosquitoes...

"Mom, you said there are thousands of them, them fireflies...not them mosquitoes!"

***

III

KLCC

On the New Year's eve, I brought my daughter to KLCC, to enjoy the crowd as well as the concert that they organised for New Year's celebration there. We sat in the middle of the park, not to near to the huge speakers so as not to allow our eardrums to be damaged.

When the real concert started at about 10pm, everybody (well, almost everybody) started swinging their hands in the air, cheering for the artists and the musicians.

My daughter pulled my sleeves, and pointed to the crowd...

"I know where the kelip-kelip have gone to..."

"Huh? What kelip-kelip?"

"See the bangles on their hands...it must be full of Kampung Kuantan's fireflies!"

***

Facts:

1) I don't have a daughter
2) I have never been to any concert in KLCC or Dataran Merdeka or other places (I hate crowded places...well, I did go to Baik Punya Cilok showcase - I thought we won't be standing all night, I was bloody wrong!)
3) I have always spent my New Year's Eve at home with family
4) I have never been to Kg. Kuantan
5) I live at a place far from Kg.Baru

Why did I write this entry...

I was sitting by the sliding door, enjoying the breeze and a bowl of delicious bubur jagung when I saw this tiny brownish worm struggling to get himself back to the soil after being washed away towards the broken marble floor by the rain. The worm reminded me of fireflies. My brother once asked me,

"Kenapa kelip-kelip ada lampu hijau when night falls?"

I told him, it's the liquid (bendalir) in his body that gives the glow-in-the-dark effect. Obivously, it is visible only at night lah kan.

Worm - liquid
Firefly - liquid
Worm - Firefly
Firefly - Worm

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Happy New Year!!
Happy New Year!!
Happy New Year!!
Happy New Year!!
Happy New Year!!
Happy New Year!!


creativity+boredom=this entry