Once upon a time, in a small house in the countryside near the distant mountains, grassy lands, and forests, there lived a little boy named William. He was a kind-hearted boy. His parents passed away in an accident. So, he lived with his grandmother. William was a lovely son to his grandmother. And he was a helpful and kind person to everyone. Not only to people, but to animals too.
One day, William was bringing water from the stream to fill a large barrel. William took a small bucket to the stream and filled it with water. He brought it back home and filled the water into the large barrel. This barrel was huge. So, it takes more than twenty buckets of water to fill it. Therefore, it was hard work for little William. But he had to do it because his grandmother could not do those things anymore.
After spending more than an hour bringing the water, William needed only one last bucket of water to make the barrel full. So he went to the stream and filled the water bucket with water and came back. When he came back and poured that bucket of water into the barrel, he saw a firefly had fallen into the water. Little William tried to take it out. But the firefly sank in the water.
William immediately put his hand into the barrel and tried to catch the firefly before it sank into the bottom. But unfortunately, he could not catch the firefly. Every time he tries to catch it, it slips from his hand. And it sank further down in the barrel.
William was not ready to let that firefly die drawn in the water. So he thought of using a stick and trying to catch it with it. But it did not work. And time was running out. He needed to hurry if he was to save the firefly.
William had only one option left. Which was to empty the water barrel as fast as he could. He did not think twice. He emptied half of the water barrel with the bucket. And then he pushed the barrel down. The water flew on the stone-paved ground towards the grass. The firefly was dragged by the water and stuck on the grass.
William carefully picked up the firefly in his fingertip and placed it on a dry brick. The water around the firefly’s body quickly soaked into the clay brick. Then he blew some air towards the firefly. The firefly moved his antennas and legs, walked a few inches on the brick and opened up the wings.
William was so happy to see it and he was watching as the firefly flew away in the sky into the woods.
Even though William was happy that he could save a life, he still had to fill the barrel with water. And it was the evening, about an hour before the sunset. And it was his favorite time of the day. Because filling the barrel with water is the last thing he had to do for a day. Then he sat by his grandmother and had a good cup of coffee or tea with jaggery or cookies.
But, that day, he had to fill the water barrel again. And he did. Though the task was hard, William never regretted saving the firefly by emptying the barrel. All the time he was thinking about the life he could save. And he wished that his parents were looking at him from heaven, him doing good deeds.
Time passed like this. William and his grandmother were surviving by doing almost everything by themselves. They collected wild fruits and root vegetables; they grew vegetables and serials in their garden. And they raised a flock of chickens and a cow. This way, this little family had almost a self-sustaining life. Whenever they needed something from the market, they sold or exchanged what they had for a cheap price and brought what they needed to their home. Oil for lamps was one of those things they needed.
One evening, the grandmother fell ill. Little William was looking after his grandmother. Three days passed by, but the grandmother had not recovered yet. Little William kept her warm and rested inside the house. And he did the tasks he could.
The fourth day after the grandmother fell ill, William saw the oil for the lamps had run out. So, he told his grandmother that he would go to the market and bring some. But, this time, since the grandmother was ill, they did not have anything to trade for oil. William had no choice but to expect mercy from the shopkeeper. So, he walked to the shop a few miles away and begged him to give some oil for the lamps until his grandmother got better.
But the shopkeeper did not agree to give oil for William without any coins or something to trade for. So he refused to give oil. William had to walk back home with a broken heart. He needed to look after his grandmother, staying awake at night. But he wouldn’t be able to do that if it was dark.
Little William reached home diving in an ocean of thoughts. It was almost nightfall. He set fire in the fireplace to keep the house warm. He dropped a couple more firewoods in there to be burned. But that light was not enough to light the whole wooden cabin house. Since it was not the winter, William did not have much firewood collected. William felt helpless.
He sat by his grandmother and placed a warm towel on her legs so she would feel little comfort. Then he kept outside through the glass of the little window. Not even the moon was there. Therefore, he could see the stars shining in the sky. He was staring at the stars while massaging the legs of his grandmother.
Little by little, William saw the stars getting closer to his home and becoming radiant green in color. The stars came closer and closer. But they did not grow bigger. They were fireflies.
Countless fireflies came flying near the window and perched on the window glass and started to emit light. William stared there, wondering what was going on. Her grandmother was asleep. And the only light in the house was coming from the fireplace and it was slowly dimming.
William stood up and walked towards the window. He looked outside. Hundreds of fireflies are outside the house as if the stars have fallen. Without thinking much, he opened the window. A cold breeze came into the house swinging William’s hair. Then a firefly perched on William’s hand and started twinkling. Then one after another, a lot of fireflies came through the window. William stepped back as they stormed in to protect his face. Within moments, hundreds of fireflies were flying inside the house.
William could not believe what just happened. He closed the window tightly to avoid the cold wind. Then he looked back. The fireflies were flying near the roof of the house. And the house was not dark anymore. The radiant glow from the fireflies had given a faint but cool light inside the house.
William even forgot that he was sad at the moment. He sat by his grandmother and looked up at the fireflies. He felt as if he were staring at the night sky full of stars. It was indeed like a starry sky of his own.
“William! Wake up, son!” William woke up listening to his grandmother’s voice. He opened his eyes. The warm sunlight came through the window. He looked around. His grandmother was standing in front of him, holding a bottle of milk.
“Grandma, you are fine…” William was happy to see his grandmother looking well.
“You, my boy, had fallen asleep by my side. I am quite fine today. So I did not wake you up early. And I went to bring the milk by myself,” Grandmother said.
“I am glad you are okay, grandma,” William said. Then he looked around, wondering about the hundreds of fireflies that were inside the house last night. But not a single firefly was to be seen.
“What are you looking for?” Grandmother asked William.
Before he even answered, grandmother spoke again. “When I woke up, this window was open. Must be the wind.”