Did you ever stop to wonder where all the fireflies have gone? Or why the cool air blowing from the A.C. vent is never as crisp as it was after a long day of running through sprinklers and riding bikes with friends? Were you there when the sun went down? A rosy-cheeked kid, net in hand, ready to chase some lightning bugs across your neighbor's lawn, so you could trap them in a jar and watch them light up the night as you pedal your way home.

Maybe fireflies haven’t gone away. Maybe they still swarm blackberry bushes, and tiny tummies still flutter with joy when specks of light peak through the cracks of small hands…Maybe I'm just too grown up to notice them.

"Adulting" is hard. I mourn the loss of my childhood summers. I still can’t understand why my skin doesn’t bronze the way it did when I slid across the sand at Coney Island Beach—Benny "the Jett" Rodriguez style— stretching my feet onto a makeshift home base while letting out a victorious roar, “Safe!” These fond memories of my youth weigh on my adult conscience like a pet rock protecting my pen pal’s letter from a sudden breeze, and the absence of a certain winged beetle hasn't done anything to help my summertime-blues.

I asked a few friends in passing, over cocktails at the local bar, whether or not they’ve seen any fireflies this summer. Some said I was silly. Their yards are filled with glowing insects, but with work and everything, they’re just not outside long enough to get a good look. My boyfriend, on the other hand, was floored. He said he hadn’t thought of it before and now that I mentioned it, his nights have been sans lightning bug as well. Has the chaos of our adult lives dimmed our view of their vibrant Bioluminescence, or are fireflies really going extinct?

The National Wildlife Federation believes firefly populations are on a decline due to light pollution and the fact that many of our marshes and other natural resources have been paved over—diminishing the number of firefly habitats. Not to mention, pesticide usage kills off insects that firefly larvae feed on such as snails, slugs, and worms.

Adult fireflies tend to stay where they are born, with a lifespan of approximately two months. They tend to dwell in lush areas surrounding still bodies of water, and thrive in humid weather. As housing developments go up and forests come down, we begin to see less of our glowing, flying friends, and become more and more nostalgic.

Some nights when I step out onto my balcony and close my eyes, through the city noise I can still hear my heart beating fast, the way it did the first time a little sparkle in the air brushed past my grinning cheek. If only I could close my palms in time before the magic becomes extinct.