The Smoking Mountains

"Pawpaw, why is there so many lightning bugs flying around tonight?" Elijah said swatting away yet another firefly.

"There ain't anymore than normal, boy"

"I don't like bugs Pawpaw, can I go inside?"

"Your Meemaw said no one is to set foot in her house while she's cookin' supper. Less we want to be served up with it." Elijah stared at his grandfather while he spoke. Elijah was visiting his grandparents for the summer instead of going to a summer camp. That was the deal Elijah struck up with his parents to avoid the unnecessary physical fitness of a summer camp. On this sweltering day, Elijah sat on the front porch, watching his grandfather whittle and listening to the blue tick hound snore.

The summer was almost over, and Elijah was rethinking his choice to stay with his grandparents. Although there was no three-legged races, or macaroni art, Elijah instead chopped wood, went fishing nearly everyday, sat quietly in the hunting blind, and read many of his comic books by candle light. Elijah was a boy of small stature, even though he was thirteen years old. He wasn't athletic, or strong, and his clothes never fit correctly. Elijah had an older brother that was eleven years older than him. Caleb was Elijah's opposite in every possible way, which grated on Elijah's nerves continuously. Elijah's grandparents were more sympathetic to Elijah, than they were to Caleb. Probably because they felt sorry for Elijah.

Elijah wasn't ready to go back to school, but he was ready to get back to the city. Pawpaw and Meemaw's two bedroom cabin deep in the smoky mountains of Tennessee was more primitive than the summer camp Elijah would have gone to. Elijah was startled when he heard his Meemaw calling from the kitchen.

"Silas! Elijah! Ya'll come in and get some supper!" Without a word, Elijah's grandfather put down his block of wood and his whittle knife, and headed inside. Elijah followed closely behind, happy to be away from the fireflies.

"What are we eatin' tonight Ma?" Pawpaw said pulling out his chair at the solid wood table.

"I fixed us somethin' real nice tonight. I got some greens from the garden, with the can of beans, and fried up more of that trout ya'll caught." Meemaw was so proud.

"This looks delicious Meemaw, thank you!" Elijah was about to take a forkful of greens and fish until he noticed his grandfather glaring at him from across the table.

"Why don't you say the blessin' tonight, boy."

"Yes, sir." Elijah put down his fork and bowed his head. "Dear God, thank you for this meal Meemaw worked hard on, and thank you for all the food on this table. I also pray for continuous strength and good health for all those at the table. Amen."

"Amen. You're gettin' better at sayin' the blessin'."

"Thank you, sir." Elijah picked his fork back up and began to dig into his delicious dinner.

"Did I hear you correctly a bit ago complainin' about the lightnin' bugs Eli?" Meemaw began.

"Yes ma'am, there were way more than usual outside."

"There was no more than usual." Pawpaw grumbled under his breath as he took another bite.

"Well you know why don't you?" Meemaw said.

"No ma'am, I don't"

"It's because the volcano is fixin' to explode." This didn't make a lick of sense to Elijah.

"A volcano? Where's the volcano?" Elijah was perplexed.

"Boy, don't you know that these here hills were once volcanoes? That's why they smoke." Meemaw said.

"Awe hell Eleanor, don't start fillin' the boy's head with fairytales and myths. He don't need that."

"He asked Silas. I was just goin' to tell him the story that my daddy told me is all." Pawpaw grumbled under his breath in a retort, but Meemaw paid him no attention. Instead she got up from the table to fetch more candles from the kitchen. The sun was setting quickly. When Meemaw came back to the table, she lit the candles giving her an eerie glow. Meemaw began again.

"Before there were people out here in these hills, The Appalachian Mountains was a chain of very active and very violent volcanoes. Everyday they would spew ash, smoke, and lava all over! Not nobody or no thing could live out here the way we do now. So the Cherokee tribes in this area got together and thought up a plan to get the volcanoes to quit eruptin'."

There were more grumbles from PawPaw. "Is there somethin' the matter Silas?"

"No ma'am" PawPaw went right back to eating his trout sans grumbles.

"Anyway, the Cherokee figured that they could use the lightnin' bugs to light there way through the smoke and soot to the top of the biggest volcano. They couldn't use just regular fire torches because they would set the smoke on fire, and that wouldn't suit them at all now would it?" Elijah shook his head in agreement.

"Two Cherokee warriors volunteered to go where the lightnin' bugs are made, in a storm cloud, and gathered as many as they could into their lanterns. After gettin' their lanterns filled with lightnin' bugs, they were told to climb up the side of the biggest volcano, and plug it up anyway they could. The mountains were smokin' well into the morning when our two brave volunteers started their journey. With the help of the lightnin' bugs they made their way through the thick smoke, to the tippy top of the biggest volcano. And you would never believe what they found up there." Meemaw shoveled some greens and beans in her mouth as she paused for dramatic effect.

"What Meemaw? What did they find up there?" Elijah was on the edge of his seat.

"There was an angry woman flinging fire and brimstone." Meemaw almost seemed proud of this part of the story.

"Typical." Pawpaw grumbled again.

Meemaw gave Pawpaw an annoyed look and continued despite his interjection. "Turns out her lover got caught with another, so she decided to burn all of Appalachia down. The smoking was just an added bonus, because it meant that her lover couldn't find his way to his other...close friend."

"What happened next Meemaw?"

"Well Eli, the two Cherokee braves, decided to release their lightnin' bugs and arrange them on the woman in such a way that they resembled pearls on her neck, and diamond studs in her ears. They took this volcano woman to a stream and showed her how she looked with the lightnin' bugs wrapped around her neck and in her ears. Those little lightnin' bugs were shinin' with all their might. It paid off too, because those little lightnin' bugs caught the attention of the star man. This star man came down from the heavens and fell in love with the volcano woman and her lightnin' bug jewelry. Since then the volcano woman has never spewed even an ounce of lava from the tops of the Smoky Mountains."

"But Meemaw," Elijah began, "what does that have to do with all the lightning bugs out right now?"

"The volcano woman's new lover went to get more lightnin' bugs to make her more jewelry is all. Sometimes he gets too many and has to let them go." Meemaw got up from the table, and began clearing the dishes from the table. "And if you wake up early tomorrow mornin', you'll notice that these here hills will be smokin' just a bit more than usual. That just means the volcano woman is satisfied with her lightnin' bug jewelry."

"Moral of the story boy, gifts go along way with the lady folk. Why do you think I whittle all day?" Pawpaw said with a wink. Then Pawpaw, shuffled over to Meemaw and laid a big wet kiss on her. Meemaw returned the kiss then shook her head smiling.

"Yes, Eli gifts go along way indeed."