Watching Butterflies

Her red buckle shoes stood out brightly against the dark pavement and sharply contrasted with the dull grayness of the day that surrounded her.  Looking up it was clear that there was a storm coming.  The almost black clouds were moving too quickly toward her across the sky.   However, the little girl with the red shoes was completely oblivious to this and she continued to jump in the small but deep puddles that still remained from the early morning rain.   This was one of her favorite things to do and every time the warm water splashed against her ankles and shins she laughed with delight.

Hopping from one puddle to the next the lacy ruffles in her skirt and socks were slowly turning brown as the dirty water was absorbed into the material.  Although this could not concern her in the least.  She loved being outside and was always finding new ways to get dirty.  Her mother constantly tried to dress her in shorts and t-shirts that were easier to clean but little girl was insistent.  She relished her pretty dresses and would kick, scream, and cry whenever her mother attempted to dress in boy clothes.  To prevent fights, every morning she was given the opportunity to choose from multiple "play" dresses.  The front and back of today's dress was already covered in light green grass stains from days spent rolling down the small hill in her yard so the wet dirt lingering on the bottom of it was only adding to its character.

When she wasn't stomping around in puddling or rolling down hills, her favorite thing to do was chase butterflies. She loved watching them fly from flower to flower; their multi-colored wings flapping quickly to keep themselves in the air.  Sometimes she would try to fly herself by running fast and waves her arms up and down but the only time she found herself in the air was when she jumped.  She would also attempt to catch one but no matter how many times she went to reach for one it would flutter away from her grasp.  There were a few that enjoyed dancing just above her head always just out of reach.

A couple of days ago, she spent watching the butterflies with her father.  They stayed out all morning together and he told her that when butterflies are born they are unable to fly.  In fact, they don't have any pretty colored wings at all.  He then led her to the cool stone stairs that were cover with green leaves and she was shocked when he pointed to the fuzzy caterpillar and told her that it was a young butterfly.  She didn't like the caterpillar as much as they didn't have any pretty colors at all and no wings.  They looked just like all the other bugs outside and they weren't nearly as fun to watch.   For a few long moments, she watched it slowly move across the step when she realized it was about to fall off the end, she head out her hand.  Her dad, noticing this, gently pushed the little caterpillar into her open palm and she discovered that she liked it quite a lot and giggled as it tickled the inside of her hand.

As she watched it crawl over her hands, her father explained that all butterflies start out looking just like this and eat as many leaves as they could.  When they become so full that they cannot eat anything else, they find a comfortable spot and wrap themselves into a tight white cocoon.  For many days they would stay in this cocoon and it was time to leave, they would be changed into a butterfly and fly out of it.  Instead of leaves, butterflies like flowers and that's why she always found them fluttering near the brightest flowers.  When her mom came home, her father took out a large jar and caught a butterfly for her and told her it was time to go back inside.

Holding onto the closed jar containing the small butterfly she ran inside and up to her room where she placed it near the window and watched it as it flapped its wings.  After a while, she took out her crayons and paper and began to draw it.  Unlike her other drawings that she would finish quickly and messily, she took her time with this one.  As she watched her butterfly, she carefully began to draw making sure to capture each of its colors.  She remembered her teacher telling her that every butterfly has its own unique pattern of colors and shapes and that it was the exact same on both wings so even though she couldn't see the other wing as clearly she knew what colors she needed.   So focus and committed she was to this drawing that she couldn't hear her parents arguing in loud voices.

When her father came back upstairs he sounded so sad but she couldn't hear his sadness because she was too excited to show her dad the drawing of her butterfly.  He gave her a big hug and told her it was the most beautiful drawing he had ever seen.  Looking back at the butterfly in the jar, he explained that it was time to let the butterfly free as they need space to fly to keep their wings strong.  It was then that she noticed how sad her father looked and she knew that he didn't want to let it go as much as she didn't.  She knew though, that the butterfly would never be happy in her room away from its family and friends and that they had to let it go.

Drawing in hand she walked back outside with her dad and watched as the butterfly flew out of the jar back to the flowers.  Her father then told her that he would be going away on a trip for a little while but that he would be back soon to see her.  Until then, he needed someone who was going to watch the butterflies for him.  Quickly, she agreed and gave him a big hug.  Again, she saw that he looked sad and she thought that she would be sad too if she wasn't able to watch the butterflies either and decided that her father needed her drawing.  She handed it to him as he got into his car and told him that it would help him remember what the butterfly looked like.

She hadn't seen him since that day and everyday she went outside to watch the butterflies but today there she couldn't find them.  It was just too wet outside.  But as she stomped in a very large puddle, she looked down and saw a small caterpillar.  She bent down and picked it up.  Remembering her father telling her that they needed lots of leaves to help them become a butterfly, she picked up many leaves.  Her mother was calling for her to come back inside and she decided that it wasn't fair that her father couldn't see butterflies.  With the caterpillar in one hand and the leaves in the other, she went back inside and back up to her room.  Placing the caterpillar in a small box with the leaves, she knew that it would make a cocoon and become a butterfly.  Once it did, she would get as many flowers as she could find and give it to her dad when he came back then he would never miss them.