Firefly 

They’ll be showing up soon, he thought, gazing at the gathering 

Anna Felicia C. Sanchez  purple of the sky and the golden beams that grew fainter and 
   fainter through the trees. He could almost smell the evening 
There it was, the low gray building embraced by bermuda  creeping up the street, coming to him. The trees lined the 
grass and slender white-barked trees. The sun hung low in the  street, too, that street that led up to the other buildings on 
west and drew a halo upon the structure, glazing the treetops  campus, and which, on the other end, led down to the housing 
golden. Dennis took in the sight, inhaling deeply, then with  project where Sarah lived. A brief smile crossed his lips at the 
eyebrows set, shoulders taut and fists clenched, he  thought of walking her home again, of walking with her under 
approached the steps to the entrance. At the top of the steps  the leaves of the trees and the dim light of the street lamps. 
he froze, because there were shadows on the lobby floor, 
Almost half a year ago, they were introduced by his cousin 
shadows quivering like tens of dying mice. Then he realized 
right there outside the lobby, right where he now sat by the 
that a breeze was blowing, and that the shadows were only 
vending machine. That time he was standing with a can of 
those of the leaves glistening from the treetops.  
Coke in his hands, and it was his cousin he was waiting for, a 
Leaf-shadows, Sarah’s favorite writer called it. He’d been  girl cousin whom he had hiked with in Agusan only the week 
scared by leaf-shadows.  before and who was attending a teachers’ conference inside 
the little building. It was late into the evening when his cousin 
He turned around to gaze at the late shafts of light, the leaves 
finally stepped out from the lobby with Sarah, and he was 
filtering them into gentler rays, then went to sit down by the 
gulping down the Coke, trying to wash down his annoyance at 
vending machine on one side of the entrance. He stretched his 
having waited so long, and with nothing but the fireflies 
legs down the flight of steps and raised his head. The trees 
glowing among the nearby trees to keep him company. Sarah 
loomed over the building, over him, reminding him of the 
greeted him with an unforced cheerfulness that caught him off 
woods of a mountain in Agusan, of the first time that he 
guard, but other than that he saw nothing special about her, 
glanced up and saw bark and branch and leaf stretching, 
felt nothing when he shook her warm brown hand. He 
crowding, disappearing into the sky. That day, that evening 
wondered a little when his cousin declared that they needed to 
when he and his cousins set up camp under those trees, that 
walk Sarah home, but despite that he found nothing unusual 
was the first time he saw the fireflies. The fireflies that would 
about the shorthaired, big-boned young woman. Nothing, that 
follow him all the way back to Manila. 
is, until they came to the old, empty guardhouse that marked 
the boundary between the campus and the projects. 
From Nine Supernatural Stories 
Edited by Lara Saguisag and April Yap, UP Press, 2008 
Firefly by Anna Felicia Sanchez 
Page 1 
 
 
“Lead me, please?” she asked Dennis’s cousin, who complied  Fireflies hovered by a neighbor’s bushes. They were delicate 
by linking arms with her. The two women made their way  dots of light, looking as if the slightest wind could put them 
slowly past the little guardhouse, with Dennis’s cousin guiding  out. He turned back to her, shrugging. “It must be the season. I 
Sarah’s blind steps. Dennis walked behind them, staring into  see them almost every night.” 
the darkness of the guardhouse, at the fading, crumbling paint. 
She cupped her hand under his elbow, very hesitantly, and 
He saw nothing, and his forehead creased in amused curiosity. 
asked, “Do you see her, too?” 
When they turned a corner, Dennis’s cousin relaxed and 
He knew that she did not mean his cousin. Nonetheless, he 
released Sarah’s arm. “You can open your eyes now,” she said. 
glanced back at his cousin, who in turn glanced behind her. 
“Thanks,” Sarah said, looking short of breath.  But there was no one there. 

He stopped himself from laughing and fell into step with her,  He would find out more about Sarah later, from his cousin who 
asking, “What in the world was that?”  continued to befriend her, and from Sarah herself, who he 
would later seek out of morbid interest. He had to admit that 
She blushed, he saw by the light of the crowded houses. His 
he had been bored with work that time, weary of the monotony 
cousin signaled to him sharply, and he put up his hands in 
of business and negotiations, so that the thought of Sarah 
surrender, smiling. Sarah steered the conversation towards the 
gave him something new to occupy himself with. Thanks in 
conference she had attended with Dennis’s cousin, until they 
part to his cousin’s urging, he invited Sarah out often—to the 
reached the two-story apartment that she shared with some 
malls, to amusement parks, to picnic groves, to dinner—and 
college students. She stood behind the gate as the cousins 
always she accepted the invitation, laughingly ignoring his 
turned to go, but all of a sudden she said his name, and, 
questions about that first night they met, about the empty 
puzzled, he faced her again. 
guardhouse and the fireflies. 
A light bulb cast a dull glow from one of the upstairs windows, 
He was a little disappointed by her refusal to confide in him, 
and he could see the smooth curves of her face outlined in the 
but he had the patience of a rock, and soon he knew enough 
gloom. She bit her lip as she looked up at him, as if she could 
about her to gather together a list of her quirks and qualities in 
not make up her mind what to say. Finally she averted her eyes 
his head: her large eyes disappearing into merry slits whenever 
and waved her hand towards something behind him. 
she laughed; her love for comedy movies and hatred for films 
that made her cry; her reasons for majoring in studies on folk 

From Nine Supernatural Stories 

Edited by Lara Saguisag and April Yap, UP Press, 2008 
Firefly by Anna Felicia Sanchez 
Page 2 
 
 
literature, and on and on and on. She was his cousin’s  strolling along the quietly glimmering waters. She said nothing, 
co-teacher in the university, and she was drawn to structuralist  didn’t even glance behind them. 
theories because, she said, they gave her the chance to 
Another night, the next time he walked her home from the 
systematize, to place phenomena and beliefs in a scientific 
campus because she had had to stay late in the college, he 
order. She was always vague about which phenomena or 
stopped in his tracks along the shadowy tree-lined street and, 
beliefs, though, always shuffling topics, talking about her 
to Sarah’s amazement, whirled around, dashed and lunged at 
favorite film directors, her small collection of books at home, 
the fireflies. The lights escaped his hands, dispersing for an 
or anything else that had no relation to what had intrigued him 
instant, and then recollected without missing a beat of their 
about her in the first place. 
silent, rhythmic flickering. He groaned, utterly exhausted. 
Among other habits she had the tendency, whenever the two 
That was when Sarah started telling him about what she could 
of them walked together, to cup one hand under his elbow, as 
see in the guardhouse, what she could see in other places so 
if she were helping an old woman cross the street, and at first 
that the next time she had to pass through them she needed to 
it annoyed him because her hand, brushing repeatedly against 
close her eyes, and what—or who—it was that she could see 
his waist, tickled him no end. But eventually he grew 
surrounded by the fireflies that followed Dennis. 
accustomed to her touch, to her peculiarities, to her, and soon 
they were inseparable.  “A woman, of incomparable beauty,” she said over coffee in 
her kitchen. Upstairs, her housemates watched a movie on 
It must be noted that all this time, almost every night that he 
Sarah’s DVD player. “Her skin is like the moon. Her hair is so 
was outdoors, the fireflies hovered wherever he went. Always 
long it trails on the ground behind her as she walks, so black 
they followed from a distance, so that for the better part of the 
and deep and luxurious that you’ll drown in it. And unless you 
evening he would forget about them, until he’d turn around and 
do something, she’ll follow you forever.” 
see them lingering several paces away, as nonchalantly as if 
their presence was as natural as the sun during day. He never  “Sounds like a dream,” he smiled. The back of his neck tingled, 
saw them in brightly lit places, of course, nor where people  and whether it was from fear or excitement, he couldn’t tell. 
swarmed in numbers, but otherwise, they were always there, 
floating like wan stars that had lost their gravity.  “This beautiful woman without a canal under her nose—” not 
lifting her gaze from the whorls of cream in her coffee, she 
“You’d think people would’ve noticed by now,” he muttered one  lifted a finger to her upper lip— “She doesn’t like me. If you 
night while he was in the Riverpark with Sarah, the two of them 
From Nine Supernatural Stories 
Edited by Lara Saguisag and April Yap, UP Press, 2008 
Firefly by Anna Felicia Sanchez 
Page 3 
 
 
care about what I think, you’ll agree it’s not a very good  of a sudden she was telling him about the nightmares she was 
dream.”  having, of the beautiful woman whose hair was studded with 
fireflies. Only then did he see how thin she had grown over the 
He laughed at her, unable to admit to himself the possibility 
past several weeks, how the eyebags wore her face down. But 
that she was right, that the unease he had begun to feel after 
he did not know how to help her. 
first seeing the fireflies in Manila translated into something 
more real than what he could accept. Sarah said nothing else.  So he continued to spend time with her, finding easy 
When he left her apartment the fireflies greeted him outside  consolation in how she knew and understood his troubles, 
and followed him out of the projects to the main road, where  until he realized, finally, that he wanted to know more of her 
he boarded a jeepney home. Not once did he look back.  too. He wanted to consume her, to find intimate sanctuary in 
the grace of her build, to have her smooth, brown hands 
For a couple of months after, things between him and Sarah 
soothe the fear in his mind. One night her housemates went on 
went on as normally as before: regular dates, phone 
an excursion, leaving the apartment in her care, and he asked 
conversations that lasted through the night, mushy messages 
her if they could go up to her room to watch a movie on DVD. 
that crowded their cellphones’ inbox. He found solace in the 
She agreed, but when Dennis’ hand reached out for hers she 
light of his phone, because he had started to develop a fear of 
shook her head vehemently. He decided to give it time. An 
the dark, of shadows, so that even in his room at night he slept 
hour into the movie Sarah began to shiver, and gladly he put an 
with the light on, afraid even of the darkness that came with 
arm around her. She bolted away and rushed to the window, 
closing his eyes. He dreaded the sight of the fireflies, feared 
but before she could pull down the drapes he felt it, too, a jolt 
the vision of their faint light stark against the black. He sought 
down his spine, and then something moved out of the corner 
out Sarah, taking comfort in her company, trying to believe the 
of his eye. Sarah froze, and he followed her gaze. 
fireflies did not wait for him at night. He made her explain to 
him all that she knew about the lore of fireflies, so that not a  There was a tall, long-limbed woman outside the window. The 
day went by that they did not talk about it: Dennis, begging to  mass of her hair filled the night sky behind her. He didn’t see 
understand what was happening to him, Sarah, eyes downcast,  her face, probably he wouldn’t have remembered it anyway, 
answering as best as she could. One day when he told her  because all he could think of at that moment was that they 
about his worsening fear of the dark, she broke into laughter,  were on the second floor, and how could that graceful, 
loudly and prolonged, as if he had just delivered the funniest  beautiful woman with the fireflies crowning her hair be walking 
joke in the world. And as her giggling subsided she began to  past? 
cry, startling him even more than the laughter did, because all 
From Nine Supernatural Stories 
Edited by Lara Saguisag and April Yap, UP Press, 2008 
Firefly by Anna Felicia Sanchez 
Page 4 
 
 
It was then that Sarah told him she couldn’t see him anymore.  He had to make the woman go away, Sarah had told him, in her 
goodbyes. But he was no psychic, he had no gift, and that was 
That was a month ago. He’d tried reasoning with her, standing 
why he needed her desperately. Only she could drive away the 
for hours outside her house, sending endless text messages to 
fireflies. 
her phone, but all she would say was that he needed to make 
the woman go away. And then all he could do was joke about  The echo of voices and footsteps drifted to him from inside 
not being able to decide whether to call a priest or a village  the building. The conference was over, and in a few minutes 
exorcist.  the people would come out. One of them would be Sarah, 
trapped by Dennis’s cousin with whom he had pleaded for 
He didn’t know what to do. 
help. He wanted to talk with Sarah, see her large flashing eyes 
A custodian had turned on the light in the lobby behind him,  and hear her voice because he knew that even her anger would 
but the light from the building melted in the night outside. The  taste sweet, but instead of rising to meet her he stood and 
fireflies came. They floated some distance away, among the  went around the side of the vending machine. 
tall, slender trees that surrounded the building. The street was 
Her laughter came to him first. When he heard it he 
quiet save for the occasional passing of a tricycle, and the 
remembered how she had laughed at him, and how the last 
trees loomed over parked cars along the sidewalk. His cousin 
bursts of that laughter had changed into little sobs, just before 
had told him they were having a conference again, a seminar; 
she’d told him about her nightmares. Her laughter now 
she had promised she would take Sarah to him no matter 
sounded the way it should, the way it used to during their first 
what. Neither he nor Sarah had told his cousin anything. The 
few months together: young, relaxed, and best of all, happy. 
burden was theirs alone, he thought, as he tried to stare down 
the shadows around the building. The fireflies stared back at  She stepped out from the lobby, together with Dennis’s cousin, 
him with their pulsing, glimmering lights, and he wondered  whose gaze wandered around looking for him. Sarah was in 
about what was really happening between him and Sarah. He  the middle of telling a story and didn’t notice her friend’s 
needed to see her, to ask her. He glanced at his watch, then  restlessness, but from where Dennis hid behind the vending 
realized that sweat was forming along the lines of his palms,  machine he saw her clearly, and she was beautiful. 
threatening to drip down his wrist. He wiped his hands on his 
He watched the lines of her face grow taut as she saw the 
shirt and wished the conference would end soon. 
fireflies. They were still there, floating like lost stars among the 
pale and slender tree-trunks. She stood staring at the tiny 

From Nine Supernatural Stories 

Edited by Lara Saguisag and April Yap, UP Press, 2008 
Firefly by Anna Felicia Sanchez 
Page 5 
 
 
lights so uncertainly that she couldn’t have realized that she 
had placed her hand under her friend’s elbow, the way she 
used to with him. And a sadness overcame his desperation, 
because he missed her, and her anecdotes, and her laughter, 
and all her little qualities, but he could not approach her 
because the little lights followed him wherever he went and he 
didn’t know yet how to defeat them. 

A slight wind sent a rustling above him. He glanced up but the 

light from the lobby was too faint to make the treetops visible. 
As he stared at Sarah he had the feeling that the fireflies had 
done him some good, but he couldn’t quite figure out what. 
They had been both a curse and a blessing, he thought, so he 
thanked them, and cursed them back. 

His cousin made up some excuse to get Sarah to go back with 

her inside, thinking perhaps that he might have gone in to use 
the washroom. When the two women re-entered the lobby, 
Dennis took the opportunity and stole away into the darkness, 
taking the fireflies with him. 

 
Source:
https://100vampirenovels.net/pdf-novels/ghosts-of-infinity-and-nine-more-sto
ries-of-the-supernatural-by-april-yap-free/7-page

From Nine Supernatural Stories 

Edited by Lara Saguisag and April Yap, UP Press, 2008 
Firefly by Anna Felicia Sanchez 
Page 6