The Little Butterfly's Transformation

At the moment I often write in the style of children's stories and this is a short story that I wrote yesterday night after I had found out that my grandfather had passed away.

One morning a little butterfly freed itself from its cocoon, which hung from a branch of a big tree. It didn't know how many days it had spent in its cocoon, but it awoke with the sun shining into its face. The little butterfly knew that it had to wait before it could open its wings, because they were still moist.

So it waited in the tree and took in the scenery around  it: it was a bright, sunny morning and the birds were singing; there was a stream running next to the tree in which the butterfly was sitting and all kinds of trees and bushes and flowers were growing around it. Yes, the little butterfly thought, I really chose a beautiful place to transform myself.

After a few hours the butterfly's wings were finally dry and the little butterfly tried spreading them. It was a great feeling to have them and the little butterfly felt even better when it finally left its cocoon and flew in the air - what a freedom it was! Nearby there were other butterflies flying around some beautiful flowers, so the little butterfly joined them in their little dance. How amazing it was to be a butterfly! Why would someone ever want to be an ugly, little caterpillar?, it thought.

The little butterfly had never felt better in its life, but suddenly there was a loud screech and all the butterflies fled as fast as they could. But the little butterfly - still so new to this world - realised its mistake too late and a sharp beak hit its wings. One of the birds that had been part of this peaceful world had attacked the little butterfly and wanted to eat it! The little butterfly tried to escape, but its wings were hurt, so the little butterfly slowly sank to the ground, looking for the bird that had attacked it but that was nowhere to be seen.

On the ground the little butterfly could see nothing but grass and the sun still shining into its face. The little butterfly knew that it was badly hurt and had to take faster breaths. It felt miserable and was so afraid. Why did this happen to me and not to someone else? It's my first day of freedom!, the little butterfly thought. It didn't have to wait for a long time and the little power that it had started to leave the little butterfly's body. So this is what it feels like to die, it thought.

The little butterfly didn't want to see the world anymore - it didn't want to see its beauty that had misled it so badly. The little butterfly felt betrayed and didn't want to face what would have been its life anymore. After one more short breath the little butterfly suddenly felt  very light and then its body stood still.

But the little butterfly now saw that this wasn't the end. It was lifted upwards, but wait - it had left its body behind and the little butterfly felt even lighter. The little butterfly could see the world from above and it knew that it should be afraid, because it was sure that butterflies weren't supposed to fly this high, but it just didn't feel any fear. So the little butterfly watched the world grow smaller beneath it and was amazed by its greatness.

After some time - and the little butterfly couldn't have said whether it was a few seconds or a short eternity - it saw something so incredible that the little butterfly was simply in awe. All around it there was light and it was so white and pure that the little butterfly knew that it would have burned its eyes if it had still been in the possession of its body. But now this light made the little butterfly feel calm and a wave of peace washed over it.

But there wasn't just the light, there were almost transparent streams of wind playing with each other in the air. They were chasing each other, turned in wild circles, went beneath and above each other and looked so happy that the butterfly felt like being one of them. You will be one of them, a voice suddenly said. The little butterfly turned around to see who had spoken to it, but it couldn't see anything except the streams of wind.

Then the little butterfly felt a rush of bitterness. It felt so lost between these winds that looked so happy with each other and it was still mourning over the loss of the world that it had left behind. Where am I?, the little butterfly wondered. You are where you belong, it heard the voice say. Still there was no one to be seen. The little butterfly felt a bit brave and asked: "Who are you?"

And then the voice rose with an immense clarity and power and said: "I am the sun that rises every morning and the moon that reigns the tides. I am you and everyone and everything. I am the life and the death." "So if you are me, am I the sun and the moon too?", the little butterfly asked. The voice laughed and it was so loud that the light around the little butterfly seemed to vibrate. "No, you are just a soul, little butterfly. But I am your creator!", the voice said.

The little butterfly was shocked. It didn't know what to feel and was so confused. Just then it realised that it hadn't taken a single breath since it had been in this place and knew that there was no need to breathe anymore. "What happens to me now?", the little butterfly asked scared. "Don't be afraid!", the creator said, "We will take care of you". "Does that mean that I can never go back to Earth?", it asked. "Why do you mourn, little butterfly? You will soon forget about Earth and find that your place is here", the creator answered.

"But it was my first day as a butterfly! I loved flying in the air!", the little butterfly replied. "Little butterfly, you have to realise that this was just one of many transformations and that you can never remain in just one place. And look around you, all souls that are not needed on Earth at the moment have their place here and they fly around just like you want to. Don't you want to join them?", the creator asked. "Well, it does look fun", the little butterfly had to admit. "Don't be afraid to let loose. Your past life is just one of many steps", the creator assured.

It was so hard to accept what the creator had said, but then it looked back to the winds of souls and the little butterfly suddenly realised how naive it was being and understanding  replaced the bitterness and the feeling of loss. It wanted to be one of them. The creator seemed to have read the little butterfly's thoughts because there was a sudden burst of wind brushing over the little butterfly and when the wind was gone, the little butterfly felt just like the wind itself.

Soon the little butterfly forgot its name and it forgot what once had been. It had joined the other souls and they created a dance of their own together - wild and playful at the same time. Everything felt so light, so easy and the new  little soul felt happy within their community. It now knew what it meant to never stay in one place and that transformation was inevitable, and even welcome. How amazing it was to be alive!

Author's Note

Please tell me if it makes you feel anything at all. No need to judge the grammar, because that wasn't my main focus.