The Firefly in the Jar

A firefly lands on Alice's palm and flies into the jar by itself. At home the room is never dark with it. But in the wood the fireflies blink all at once — and only the one in the jar blinks off the beat.

Fireflies light up in the wood behind the house at dusk, and one lands on Alice's palm. Alice fetches a jar with a lid, the firefly flies in by itself, and the jar glows green. At home it stands by the bed: the room is not dark and falling asleep is easy. In the morning the firefly sits on the bottom and hardly glows. Alice puts in a blade of grass and a leaf — it ignores them and climbs the glass instead, and the lid stops it going further. At dusk the wood blinks on the same second, all at once, and only the one in the jar is off the beat. Alice sits on the porch with it: the wood blinks bright, the jar glows dim and apart. Opening it is easy — the lid turns. Alice holds the lid and does not turn it. Then turns it after all. The firefly climbs to the rim, sits a second and flies to its own.