Page 6 of To Catch a Firefly

He looks back then, and the relief is immense. I don’t dare move a step until Lucky is at the ladder. He grins at me, all wide-eyed and excited, and I shake my head, hoofing it down as fast as I can go.

My mom grabs a hold of me as I land, wrapping her arms around my shoulders as we back further into the shelter. It’s not large, but there’s plenty of space for the five of us to wait out the storm. Along one wall is a bench, and along another is a rack of emergency supplies, including a radio.

Lucky’s dad is the last to descend after locking the door tight, and the silence that follows is stark.

“What were you doing?” he asks his son as soon as his feet hit ground. His hands go to Lucky’s shoulders as he looks him in the eye. His grip isn’t hard. He just looks scared.

“Did you see it?” Lucky replies, not sharing a hint of the same fear as his dad. “It wasbeautiful.”

Lucky’s dad turns away and scrubs his hands through his hair. He paces a step before turning back. “One of these days, you’re going to give me a heart attack. I swear, Lucky, you can’t—”

Lucky’s mom grabs his arm, squeezing gently. “We’re okay now,” she says. “Let’s focus on that. Get the radio going, Ron?”

Lucky’s dad nods, letting loose a breath as he heads for the old ham radio.

My mom presses a kiss against the side of my head. “Okay, baby?”

I nod. My pulse is still hammering, but not because of the tornado. It’s not the first one I’ve experienced, and being smack dab in the middle of Tornado Alley, it won’t be the last.

But Lucky…

My mom lets me go as I head toward my friend. His hair is soaked, the curls clinging to his skin. His eyes are bright, almost electric. He gives me a smile when I shove him.

“Oh, come on,” he says. “You have to admit that was really cool.”

I shake my head.

“Yeah, yeah,” he mutters. “I’m an idiot. So you say.”

I do.

The radio crackles as Lucky’s dad tunes it to hear news on the tornado. Every once in a while, the whistling of wind reaches our ears, and once, there’s a thump against the door.

Lucky follows me as I take a seat on the bench. I try to dry my hands on my shorts, but both are wet, so it doesn’t help. I shove them in my pockets when I realize they’re shaking.

“Sorry,” Lucky says, nudging me. He looks a little abashed. “I scared you, didn’t I?”

A short, sharp nod.

“I’ll try to be more careful.”

I nearly roll my eyes. Lucky seeks out trouble. That’s how he broke his leg only a month after he moved to town. Despite me telling him the ladder in the silo wasn’t stable, he was determined to reach the window at the top. He didn’t make it far before a bolt loosened and the ladder jittered, dropping Lucky to the ground in the process.

He went back up once his leg was healed and fixed the bolt.

Lucky sighs. “I want to see it, Ellis.”

The tornado?

“The world,” he answers, despite me not having said a word. “I want to experience life.”

There’s life happening right here. But I don’t think it’s enough for Lucky.

“I want an adventure, you know?” he says, eyes bright like the ocean or the clear blue sky. “I want more than corn or paper or five-cent candy at the corner store. I want my life to be…remarkable, El.”

It will be. Because it’s his. He’s not capable of anything else, I know it. I just don’t know how tosayit.

I’ll show him; that’s what I’ll do. I’ll show Lucky there’s adventure to be had right here. That he can have his remarkable life.

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