Some of the best moments in life are completely unplanned and unexpected.
Three months ago Cora Rainey found this statement to be incredibly true.
Matt had been her best friend since birth, and much to her mother's dismay
they grew up more like brother and sister rather than neighbors. Cora's
mother never approved of the way Mr. and Mrs. Rovelli raised their only
son, which was observed by the community as a very "hippie" form
of parenting in a strictly republican era. So to have a daughter out with
the Rovelli boy making mud pies and playing catch made Mrs. Rainey
extremely nervous, not only because of what that might do to Cora's
reputation, but to the reputation of Senator John Q. Rainey's extended
family. So as the children grew, Mrs. Rainey started to realize that her
daughter was impervious to the threats of groundation that were handed out
daily to prevent Cora and Matt's friendship. She would lock the gate that
separated the two back yards, give the girl chores to keep her mind busy,
and even sold Cora's bike so they could no longer sneak out late at night.
The children were relentless, especially with regards to their late-night
escapes, yet now instead of riding bikes to the park, they simply walked.
Each of those summer nights that they spent together, the park was filled
with light from the millions of fireflies that decorated the field. Cora
and Matt loved to chase them around and catch a few, but before they went
back home they would always set the bugs free again. Throughout grade
school and high school they remained inseparable, and they knew that with
each day the love that they had for each other strengthened. Until last
year when the ex-senator and his wife decided to move their family from
Washington the state to Washington DC where a new position in the
government awaited Cora's father, and where her mother could force a new
start for Cora's life that did not include Matt Rovelli. The family was to
drive to their new home only six days after they told Cora the news.
Devastated and defeated, Cora spent as much time with Matt as she could,
constantly fighting back her tears. She vowed never to speak to her mother
again.
Hours and hours past as the family drove across the country in utter
silence, each second of the way the adults became more and more aware of
the pain that they had caused their daughter so that by the time they
reached South Dakota, her mother was in tears herself.
Cora slept most of the way in attempt to rest her racing thoughts, however
she found the dreams of Matt to be all the more painful. It was one in the
morning when they finally reached their new house, and when she saw it her
life was final. Everything that she had known until that point didnít
matter anymore because it was a new world. A world without her only true
love. She burst out of the car, crying as loud as her lungs could allow,
running for the front door to lock herself in the first room she found.
But then she saw something that stopped her dead in her tracks. On the
front porch was a jar of fireflies, a ring, and Matthew Rovelli.
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