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Thread: Fairytales & Butterflies

  1. #1
    Registered User Delta40's Avatar
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    Fairytales & Butterflies

    Not for the first time Rebecca adjusted the glasses on her nose and wondered about butterflies. They were certainly beautiful she thought and she liked the endless designs, patterns and colours they came in. Her mother had once dressed her as a butterfly for the local spring fair. Of course her mother knew absolutely nothing about butterflies but Rebecca enjoyed the fuss everybody made of her and though she would not admit it, when she held hands with the other children and sand 'I wish I were a butterfly' and then fluttered about to a crowd of pleased smiling parents, she actually thought it might be nice to wear the outfit forever. That is until her big brother Michael made a beeline straight for her.

    'Ooh look at you Miss weakling fairy. Watch you don't get squished!' Michael roared and swung his arm. He had dressed as an ogre and was most theatrical thudding about, beating his chest. It was all rather vulgar and Rebecca had no choice but to get by as best she could.

    Later in her backyard she wondered how these frail creatures survived such harsh elements. How for instance did they navigate the wind and manage to migrate thousands of miles? As she pondered this question a cabbage butterfly alighted on the fence. Its wings opened and shut slowly.

    'Phew!' It squeaked 'I'm puffed to bits but you know what they say; a day lost is never found.' With that, the butterfly flit off to the end of the garden and sat on a bush.

    Rebecca was so stunned she could hardly believe her ears. Michael came out and for a quick moment, she thought of telling him but before she even decided against it, her brother bolted down the yard to the bush and yelled 'gotcha!' He'd landed the butterfly with his net. Rebecca immediately ran to him calling 'let her go, let her go.' She pulled at her brother's elbow but Michael was taller and stronger so just held the net above his head all the while smirking at his sister's pleas.

    'What's it to you?' he asked

    She couldn't tell him the butterfly had spoken to her. Michael would either make fun of her till the end of her days or he'd believe her and then she would have zero chance of ever getting the butterfly back.

    'It's injured. It landed on the fence and I could see it's wing is all torn. You need specimens in perfect condition remember?' She looked over he top of her glasses at him and folded her arms. 'Everybody knows that.' she finished Rebecca hoped her bluff would work. Michael tilted his head and appeared to consider her argument. The butterfly moaned.

    'We must all free ourselves from a trapped life.' Rebecca jumped. Michael looked suspicious.

    'Please Michael. She's going to die.' The ruse was up.

    'Well then don't just stand there nurse. Let's get this poor little thing to insect hospital!' On that note Michael transformed into an imaginary ambulance and sped several times around the backyard making 'wee woo, wee woo' sounds as he went screeching to a halt at the back door where he disappeared inside.

    'Come on nurse. I need you in Emergency.' Rebecca had no choice but to follow him. She knew exactly where Emergency would be. His stinky room which always smelled like rotten socks. She figured she would just have to breathe through her mouth until she worked out some sort of plan to free the butterfly.

    It was dark in the room. Michael kept the blinds closed and used a desk lamp. He had already popped the butterfly into a tall jar leaving the net on top. He pulled his chair closer and flipped the lamp directly onto the glass jar.

    'You'll cook her like that!' Rebecca snapped and tried to move the jar but Michael moved it out of her way and out of the light.

    'That's Doctor to you, thank you very much. Now if we're to avoid amputating its wings we need a towel and boiling water. See to that for me will you nurse?'

    The butterfly shimmered out 'We all must chart our own course'. Rebecca stood frozen to the spot as she was so obviously the only one who could hear it speaking. Michael looked up at her.

    'Well?'

    Rebecca ran off to do as she was told, reeling from the talking butterfly and hating the farce her brother had forced her to participate in. Even though the butterfly was plain - white with a tinge of green around the edges, Rebecca had no doubt she was made that way for a purpose even if life itself was mere chance. Rebecca walked back with the steaming bowl determined to save the butterfly before Michael did it irreparable harm.

    Her brother had some tweezers and was attempting to squeeze his fat clumsy fist through the jar in order to reach the helpless butterfly languishing at the bottom of the jar. Thankfully it was a tall slim jar and Michael did not seem to have the intelligence to tilt the jar upwards. She placed the bowl on the desk and watched the comedy. Finally after several unsuccessful attempts, Michael handed the tweezers to Rebecca and ordered her to transfer the patient onto the towel.

    Rebecca moved to the other side of her brother who gave her some room. Her hand fit easily and so she was able to reach the butterfly. Rebecca was gentle and careful in how she handled the butterfly. She did not want to cause it any pain or harm at all. Michael was focused on the 'extraction' and murmured 'well done nurse' as Rebecca drew it out completely.

    'Now just place it on the towel will you/' he said. Rebecca took her chance. While holding the butterfly with her right hand, she flipped the bowl of boiling water with her left which just so happened to be level with Michael's crotch. Refecca charted a course for the front door as she heard her brother scream. She opened the door and flet the blast of warm spring air on her face. Rebecca looked over at the tweezers she'd been running with. The butterfly was still caught between them. She flicked them up into the sky. It seemd to flutter haphazardly here and there till it found its direction and then called out to Rebecca,

    'You spent some of your time today protecting the Earth. Remember you will bloom more than once in your life.' Then it disappeared out of Rebecca's view.

    Inside Michael was wailing, 'You wait till Mum gets home. She's going to kill you.'

    Rebecca adjusted her glasses once more. Today she had survived harsh elements.
    Last edited by Delta40; 03-28-2020 at 11:12 AM.
    Before sunlight can shine through a window, the blinds must be raised - American Proverb

  2. #2
    On the road, but not! Danik 2016's Avatar
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    I loved that story! I imagine it with ilustrations for a children book. It´s good to read you again, Delta.
    "I seemed to have sensed also from an early age that some of my experiences as a reader would change me more as a person than would many an event in the world where I sat and read. "
    Gerald Murnane, Tamarisk Row

  3. #3
    Registered User Steven Hunley's Avatar
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    Such a wonderful story, and it has a happy ending too! Thanks, I needed that.

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