Stacy--Part Two

Splog # 7

Two

   Stacy was kneeling in front of the wall. The butterfly perched before her - absolutely motionless. Stacy stretched out her right arm as far from her as she could and placed her hand on the wall. Then slowly - ever so slowly - she started moving it lightly along the wall towards the butterfly, unaware of the fact that under her breath she was muttering "Sunshine eyes - butterflies" over and over. An incantation to hypnotize the butterfly so it wouldn't be frightened of the giant hand inching towards it. "Butterflies - sunshine eyes". Her hand was about three inches away when the butterfly lifted into the air and suddenly landed on her other hand, which was raised next to the wall in unconscious tension as she tried to entice the butterfly to stay where it was. She froze in the middle of breathing the word butterf- . She was sure that any movement or sound - even a breath - would probably send the lovely fragile creature into a frenzy that would take it out of her sight. So she watched it from the corner of her left eye and tried to remain completely motionless. It started moving from the back of her hand onto one of her fingers. It was so light that, if she hadn't been looking at it, she might not have been able to tell whether it was still there or had flown off. But then she noticed a sensation, as if someone were dragging a heavy thread over her finger. She could feel it! And then it stopped moving forward and turned. Was that the front of it? Was it facing her? Was it looking at her? Stacy stared at it trying not to blink. And it stayed there - right at the tip of her middle finger. She wished she could communicate with it. Let it know how pretty it was. How privileged she felt to be a part of its world. She wanted it to share something with her. What was it doing? What did it want? Where was it going? She mouthed the words, "Who are your friends?” afraid that, if she whispered, her breath would blow it away. No sooner had she asked her question than the butterfly rose from her finger, flew over the wall and headed into the forest. She was surprised to see that its flight had become almost smooth and straight, as though headed towards a known destination. Previously, it had seemed aimless and erratic. She watched it go, waved her hand and said, "Bye. Thanks for keeping me company for a minute." To her surprise, the butterfly made a graceful curve in the air and flew back towards her. An open-mouthed smile of surprise and delight grew on her face as the butterfly came directly to her, made a circle around her and then resumed its purposeful flight into the woods. What was that all about? Again, she waved as the butterfly flew off.