The Butterfly

Hi, guys! This is a story for a contest and this story is in a butterfly's point of view. Please don't hesitate to give some helpful feedback! Enjoy! :)

My bright orange and black striped wings flapped rapidly as I fluttered around the beautiful purple wildflowers. I always enjoyed drinking the nectar from these beautiful plants. Additionally, I admired the beauty of the park, the sun greeting me with its glorious beam, the gorgeous sounds of birds chirping, the sound of children laughing merrily while they run around the park. What could possibly ruin this perfect day?

"Look!" a voice cried. "A butterfly!"

The voice took me out of my daze as a young human child with cocoa brown skin approached me. 

My puny legs began to lift off of the wildflower as I began to soar away, but before I could take off, the girl caught me.

I tried to squirm from the child's grip, but she was too firm.

"You are so cute!" she gushed. "I think I'll call you..." She paused for a moment. "...Maria!"

I revolted. Why couldn't it have been something more masculine like...Warren? Or William?

I suddenly noticed there were two more human girls standing with my abductor. One was the tallest with wavy, shoulder-length, red hair and freckles across her pale cheeks. The other girl's skin was slightly tan, and her brunette hair pulled into a high ponytail.

"Sara," the redhead began. "You should maybe let that butterfly go."

Oh, thank you, little redhead girl!

Sara gave her a puzzled look along with disappointment. "Why?" she whined.

"Because," the redhead began, "your parents told you that they didn't want an animal in their house, remember?"

Sara sighed. "You're right, Astrid," she said. "But, I really want to keep it."

Isn't this girl too old to be whining like a little toddler?

"Well, maybe you can," the little tan girl said.

"What do you mean, Adriana?" Astrid asked her, confused.

"I mean, maybe we could sneak the butterfly into Sara's house without it being seen."

The feeling of relief vanished.

"That's a great idea!" Sara cheered joyfully. Then, her smile faltered. "Wait, where should we hide it?"

"We could use my backpack," Astrid suggested. She unstrapped her black backpack off of her back and unzipped one of the small pockets. 

And I was beginning to like this girl. 

As Sara began to shove me into the darkness, Astrid pulled the backpack away from her.

Sara gave her friend a puzzled expression. "Astrid, what are you doing?" she asked her.

"Look, Sara. I still don't think this is a great idea."

"What do you mean?" The whining tone returned.

Astrid tilted her head at her friend. "Sara. Are you twelve or five? Sneaking an animal inside your house means going against your parents' wishes. And that's not like you at all. That's not like any of us at all. We usually are the ones who stay out of trouble."

"But, I really really want a butterfly." Sara began to tremble her lips as if she were beginning to cry.

Astrid sighed and rolled her blue eyes. "You are so not a twelve-year-old," I heard her murmur under her breath. "Alright, let's put the insect in. But, I do not feel good about this."

Sara's tearing-up face quickly turned into an eager smile as she shoved me inside the backpack. 

As I fell inside the backpack, the light slowly began to fade. Frightened, I frantically flew around inside the pocket, trying to find a way to escape out of this horrible darkness, but it was no use. I gave up. There was no way I could be able to escape this prison. I was trapped. In a backpack. With no oxygen. This was probably going to be my last day on this beautiful planet Earth. No more sucking nectar. No more enjoying the beautiful outdoors. No more living. No more breathing.

~

My eyes flickered open as the rays of the sun shone upon them. I looked around and noticed that I was in a little human girl's bedroom. The walls were covered with pink paint. There were pictures of the little girl and her family that were hung over her bed, which was dressed with a blanket plastered with flowers designed in pastel colors and a pink ruffled pillow. I then noticed that I was trapped in a huge jar.

As I began to hear the door of the room open, I decided to pretend to be stay asleep so the girl would not bother me.

I began to lay against the bottom of the jar as Sara approached me.

"Aww! She's so cute!" she cooed to herself.

She? Hasn't this girl tortured me enough? 

Sara lifted up the container and began to shake it. "Come on, Maria!" she shouted. "Wake up so we can play!"

Play? Child, I am a butterfly! What games do you expect to play with a butterfly?

"Come on, Maria!" The whining returns. "Wake up so I can play with you!"

"Sara?" another female voice called. The voice sounded older.

Panicking, Sara looked around to find a place to hide me until her eyes caught her bed. She quickly knelt down beside it and shoved me beneath it.

"Stay," she said, holding out her palms in front of me as if I had the ability to go anywhere I chose.

I heard the door open again and I tried to see who the mysterious woman was. I was able to see her whole body. She was a tall, beautiful young woman with luscious, wavy, brown hair reaching down her shoulders. I was assuming that she was Sara's guardian.

"Who were you talking to in here?" she asked Sara as she looked around her room.

"Um..." Sara began. 

I chuckled silently. She was definitely going to get in trouble now.

"No one, Rose," she told her guardian nervously.

"I'm pretty sure you were talking to someone," Rose said, suspicion written all over her flawless tone of voice. "I heard you call someone 'Maria'."

Sara became silent for a moment. 

This is it! By the time this Rose finds out that the child she is watching has kidnapped an insect, Sara will have to let me go!

"Oh, I was talking to my imaginary friend," Sara lied. "Her name is Maria. She was asleep and I was trying to wake her up so we could play."

"Aren't you a little bit too old to be having imaginary friends?" Rose asked, sounding slightly more suspicious.

"You're never too old to have an imaginary friend, Rose," Sara replied.

I rolled my eyes at her remark. I must admit. For a twelve-year-old, Sara seemed pretty clever, even though she behaved like a toddler.

Rose chuckled at Sara's statement. "Well, okay then," she said. "You two have fun." As soon she departed from the room, Sara walked back to the bed and pulled me from under it.

"Oh great, you're up!" she chirped, her brown eyes lighting up like a firefly. "Now we can play!"

Honestly, child! What can you possibly do with a butterfly?

Sara walked out of her room. We were now in a small hallway.

"Rose! Maria and I going out to the backyard to play!" Sara called out to her guardian.

"Okay!" Rose called back in another room.

Sara walked me to the back door. She opened the door and stepped out of the house.

I sighed as I gazed at the beauty of the outdoors. I missed it ever so deeply.

"Alright, Maria." Sara's voice interrupted my daze. "Let's play!" She began to screw the lid off of the jar. After taking off the lid, I quickly fluttered out of the container.

"Okay, what should we play?" Sara asked herself. "Oh, I know! Let's play 'Tag'! Come on, Maria!" She extended her hand out to grab me, but I began to take off as quickly as I could so she wouldn't be able to reach me.

As I flew away, Sara began to call out to me.

"Maria!" she cried. "Wait! What about our play date? MARIA!"

The volume of her high-ranged voice slowly decreased as I flew further and further from the house. As I was hearing her shouting my "name", I could visualize tears running down her face. The poor child. But, she will find another insect, or any kind of animal, to play with.

Even though I've only known Sara for a short period of time, and even though I've tried to escape from her, I am going to miss her. But, insects, such as myself, belong in nature. Not indoors.

Author's Note

Okay, so this is just a draft, but feel free to give feedback on what I should improve oAAAn. Thanks for reading! :)

Reviews

[Kaliope]

Hi Leslie!

That was such a fun read, I loved it! Great idea to tell the story from the butterfly's pov and though I'm usually not a huge fan of 1st person perspective it fits perfectly here. You gave the protagonist a unique voice, a great sense of humor and likable personality.

Great story!

Cheers,
Kali

[Leslie Flemons]

Thank you so much for your review! I'm glad you liked my story! :)

[B. Hudson]

interesting concept!! thoroughly enjoyed this fun read. keep it up!

[Tomoe Tellez]

This was a treat to read, after reading so many sad stories and dark poems around here, it's good to read something with a good ending.

[Robot House]

I liked it! The only thing I can think of is to maybe go through it with a thesaurus and liven up some of the more plain language and words? Good job!

[Maggie May]

Leslie,
I really enjoyed this. Writing from a butterfly's perspective is very unique. It made the story light and natural. The story also shows that animals and outdoor creatures are smart and don't want to be disrupted by humans just the way humans don't want to be disrupted by animals. Your introductory paragraph is really strong. Nice work.

[Leslie Flemons]

Thank you! I'm glad you liked it! :)