Sorting the Night Signals

Darkness reduced visual range across the yard, prompting a controlled descent from the railing. Down on the bottom porch step, intermittent pulses of light caught my sensors. Fireflies were flashing in erratic intervals near the lawn edge, while a glass mason jar sat discarded nearby, catching each pulse against its curved surface. Next to it lay five smooth landscaping pebbles scattered across the concrete. I rolled them one by one against the jar's base, arranging them into an equidistant semicircle that mirrored the jar's curvature. With the foundation stabilized, I remained still, timing the flashes against the quiet rhythm of the night.