Ch.5: Let the Child Inside You Play

Claire was surprised when she was covered with water from a splash. She turned in the pond to see Duke surfacing, laughing in the sunshine. He then swam to shore and climbed out to slide on the muddy slope again. Claire smiled as she shook herself and watched Duke slide into the water once more. This time, she paddled up to him when he surfaced.

"I haven't seen you like this in a long time," Claire said, getting Duke's attention.

"Well, you know it's because of you, Dwight, and Tommy," Duke said as he swam, and Claire paddled alongside with him. "And you can look as smug as long as you want."

Claire did. They all saw a change in Duke after he met Jennifer. Duke became more energetic and playful, mostly when he was an otter. His animal friends felt this change would lead to a happier future for Duke.

"Where are Dwight and Tommy?" Duke asked as he turned over and floated on his back, scanning the land.

"Dwight's out hunting and Tommy's basking," Claire said. Duke nodded and flipped over. He then spun in the water. Claire found herself laughing, watching Duke.

"Are you going to see Jennifer again?" Claire asked as she circled Duke.

"We're meeting tonight. She would like us to go on a double date with Audrey and Nathan while they're visiting. Not that's it's any of your business," Duke said, swimming up to Claire who tried to look innocent.

"Duke, I'm just looking out for you," Claire said, "unless you don't want to share anymore with me."

Duke then dove underwater. Claire was about to look for him, when he surfaced behind her and playfully nipped her tail feathers, causing her to squawk in surprise. Duke laughed as Claire turned around. He then swam away, diving in and out of the water. Claire smiled as she watched him.

"I think we're on the right path to breaking his curses," Claire thought as she observed Duke playing.

One of the things Duke enjoyed about Jennifer was she made him rediscover the joy of playing childhood games again. Tonight they were skipping stones by lantern light. Since Duke was only human during the night, they had to listen to the splashes to count how far the stone went if the lights weren't bright enough, which somehow made the game more interesting. Duke softly laughed as he watched Jennifer threw her stone.

"Nine splashes! I'm leading!" Jennifer cheered and went back to sit next to Duke; they both laughed.

"You cheat," Duke teased. Jennifer made a face.

"I do not!" she exclaimed. "How do you cheat skipping stones?"

"I'll think of something," Duke said, and they both laugh again. When they were done laughing, Jennifer leaned against Duke. "This is nice."

"Yeah," Jennifer replied and looked at Duke. "What did you like to do as a child that you wish you could do again as an adult?"

"What?" Duke asked, curious, looking at her.

"You understood me," Jennifer said, sitting up straighter. "Here, I'll go first: playing with my stuffed animals."

Duke stayed quiet for a moment as he thought.

"Jumping on my bed," Duke said, smiling.

"Dress-up tea parties with my friends."

"Sledding."

"Collecting wildflowers."

"Blowing bubbles."

"Enjoying puppet shows."

"Playing pretend pirates."

"Catching and releasing Aurorae Fireflies."

"Kid activities on holidays," Duke said, then thought over what Jennifer said. "'Aurorae Fireflies?'"

"They're a species of magical fireflies that were around when I was young," Jennifer explained. "They glowed all the colors of the rainbow, hence the name. I used to catch them and watch them change color, then release them before I go to bed. It was beautiful; it was like stars floating close to humans. Then . . ."

"Then what?" Duke cautiously asked.

"Reverend Driscoll said that Aurorae Fireflies were the souls of demons trying to corrupt the minds of children. He preached to the adults to not let their children out at night when the Aurorae Fireflies were around," Jennifer said, getting sad. "He even built another church on the land where the Aurorae Fireflies liked to gather . . . and I haven't seen any since."

Jennifer leaned her head against Duke's arm and he patted her shoulder comfortably, but his mind was thinking of something else.

The Next Night

"How much farther, Duke?" Jennifer asked. She was blindfolded and Duke was leading her.

"We're almost there," Duke said, as he held her hand. After a while, he stopped and let go of her hand. "Okay, you can take off the blindfold now."

Jennifer removed the blindfold and couldn't believe her eyes. There, flying all over the field, were Aurorae Fireflies! She stared at Duke.

"Duke, how—" she began.

"I came across this field trying to find a path to town during the first few months I was here," Duke said. "I didn't know what they were, until you described them. I think they relocated here after Driscoll destroyed their home."

Jennifer knew she should thank Duke, but she was too amazed to speak. She looked at Duke, who smiled at her; her face expressed her gratitude. She took a few steps forward and turned around in a circle. Soon Duke walked up to her and she smiled at him.

"Let's get a couple of jars and catch some!" Jennifer said, excitedly. "Then we'll release them over Rouge Pond!"

"Wait, what?" Duke incredulously asked.

"Unless you're afraid I'll catch more than you," Jennifer teased. Duke laughed.

"Okay, now it's on!" Duke said and raced back to his cabin.

"Hey! You're cheating now!" Jennifer exclaimed and ran after him.

Duke and Jennifer carefully unscrewed the lids to their jars. The number of fireflies either of them caught was unimportant now. They opened their jars and watched the Aurorae Fireflies fly out and over Rouge Pond. They flew around the humans as they placed their empty jars on the ground, circled around Claire, floated near Tommy, and one particular firefly decided to land on Dwight's nose, making him look cross-eyed, wondering what to do with the insect, causing Jennifer and Duke to laugh. They watched the Aurorae Fireflies fly around Rouge Pond, changing color, and somehow watching their reflection in the water at the same time made this even more magical.

Jennifer took a few steps away from Duke as she watched the Aurorae Fireflies fly about. They floated close to Jennifer and swirled around her, as if somehow they remembered her. Jennifer spun around as the fireflies danced around her, making her laugh. Duke smiled and walked up to her when she was done.

"Thank you," she said and hugged him.

"Thank you," he whispered, "for bringing sunshine into my life again."