𝚘𝚗 𝚊𝚗 𝚒𝚜𝚕𝚊𝚗𝚍 .ᐟ IN THE SUN
OPEN EVENT STARTER FROM: SHREYA @pinehavenstarters
WHERE: PINEHAVEN CEMETERY
the nocturnal air of the pinehaven cemetery was thick with the scent of damp cedar, crumbling slate, and the bitter, comforting heat of the hot beverage radiating from shreya’s thermos. it was exactly nine forty seven in the evening. according to the meticulous charts she had spent three days compiling from old county agricultural logs, the barometric pressure and atmospheric humidity were at the precise intersection required for peak activity. her mood ring was presently glinting a deep, anxious shade of blue under the moonlight, mirroring the hum of anticipation vibrating through her chest. most people avoided the graveyard after dark, but to shreya, this place was just an extension of her childhood backyard. everyone else in the town associated summer migrations with birds heading south, a predictable, evolutionary monotony that bored her to tears. but the junewing beetles were a beautiful, defiant anomaly and shreya respected the absolute, stubborn determination of the species.
"watch your step," she muttered absentmindedly, her hand automatically reaching backward to grasp her companion's hand, tugging them along the narrow gravel path between the family plots without looking away from the canopy. "the soil settling over the older vaults makes the terrain completely unstable due to the recent rainfall, and if you twist an ankle, i am not filling out the county incident report." she clicked on her flashlight, the beam cutting through the gloom and illuminating the etched marble obelisks, but she kept it pointed firmly at the ground so as not to disrupt the phototaxis of the impending swarm.
she had been listing off the exact genus and species of the beetles for the last twenty minutes, unapologetic in her ramble. then, the cemetery went completely silent. the breeze died, the rustle of the surrounding pines ceased, and a collective, bioluminescent glow began to ripple through the ivy covered stone walls. shreya froze, her breath catching in her throat. thousands of tiny, incandescent sparks rose from the graves and the old ornamental flower beds like a spilled chest of gold leaf, ascending toward the sky in a massive, swirling helix.
it was a breathtaking, the sheer scale of the phenomenon sent a thrill straight through her analytical brain, every neuron firing as she watched the beetles navigate by the stars above the resting place of the town's ancestors. a soft, involuntary smile broke across her face, entirely erasing the tense, hyper focused frown she had worn all evening. her eyes wide and bright with a childlike wonder that she rarely let the world see. "they say catching one is good luck. biologically speaking, it’s just a statistical probability given the density of the swarm, but..." she trailed off, her gaze rising as one of the tiny creatures fluttered past. she watched it go, her hand half lifted but ultimately hanging in the empty air, feeling the sudden, overwhelming urge to reach out and hold onto something permanent before the night could slip away.
