“I Shine Because I Can”
Where I live
You’ll find me where the nights are gentle and the air is warm - in gardens, meadows, marshes, and the edges of quiet woods.
I love long grasses, low trees, and little places where water rests.
My favourite time to wake is just after dusk, when the air feels like a secret.
What I eat
When I was young, I lived in the soil and the shadows - a larva with a glowing belly and an appetite for snails. Now that I fly, I don’t eat much. Some of us drink nectar or dew, but mostly, we spend our energy glowing, not grazing.
My cousins and how we differ
Some of my kin flash together in great glowing choruses - whole forests pulsing like stars. Others are more solitary, blinking once or twice, then vanishing like a dream. We differ in rhythm, in colour, and in message - each light pattern is a kind of love letter.
A fun fact about me
My light is cold. I create it without burning, without wasting, without smoke or heat. It’s called bioluminescence - a perfect little lantern lit by chemistry and magic.
What I hope you'll remember
I am not a fly. I am a beetle. And more importantly: I’m fading. Our lights are going out - not because we are tired, but because the world is too bright. Streetlights, pesticides, and shrinking habitats are dimming the joy we used to bring. Please protect the night - it is where wonder lives.
