His Naughty Lessons

** Harper **

Harper could hardly take her eyes off of the view. Did such a dreamy landscape really just pop out of nowhere? Who knew that this evening of a risky dinner with a meddlesome brother and friend would end up like this, with a fairytale date right before her eyes?

"Wait, how did you know this is what’s hidden on the other side of the hills?" The question finally occurred to her. "Have you been planning this all along?"

"Ah, I wish ..." Sounding equally impressed, Eli gave her a sheepish smile. "I didn’t though. I saw on the map earlier that there’s a pond this way, but I didn’t know there would be fireflies. I haven’t seen this many of them in a really long time."

They watched the golden twinkles dance and sway in the distance, dipping in and out of the grass in a magical choreography. Occasionally, a few lively sparkles would rise up high enough above the ground that their reflections caught in the glassy water, winking next to the moon like glittering little stars.

"This is like something straight out of a picture book," Harper marveled. "Like those stories where the prince and princess sneaked out to the secret garden behind the castle, waltzed with the fireflies all night and kissed under the moon ..."

"Yep. How did you know that’s precisely what I’m thinking about doing right at this moment?"

Eh? Harper was still lost in her fairytale daydream when Eli was already nudging her forward, leading her down the small hill and toward the sparkling lawns.

"Wait, Eli!" She laughed, trying to pull him back. "We’re not doing any of that, I don’t know how to waltz!"