Butterfly

"You must not let your life run in the ordinary way; do something that nobody else has done, something that will dazzle the world. Show that God's creative principle works in you." Paramahansa Yogananda

On the day my Dad died he was planting a bush. Gardening was one of his loves and remodeling the house and garden was his delight. He keeled over and was dead from a massive heart attack before he hit the ground. Mom tells the story of when she was standing there and as the paramedics were working on Dad that she knew he was dead. She saw a monarch butterfly and it landed on the bush that Dad had planted and stayed there for the longest time. Butterflies are very rarely seen where we live. Mom said she knew the butterfly was a sign from Dad that he was in Heaven and watching over us and that everything would be all right.

The last few weeks have been extremely hard on me both health and emotion wise. There have been major problems at my job. Yesterday as I was heading towards the ladies room I looked out over a small garden and there was a beautiful monarch butterfly. It was the first I had seen in the two years I have been here. Suddenly a feeling of peace came over me and I knew that the things I had been worrying about would be alright. My life will work out in a peaceful and happy manner. When I came home I did this picture that I am calling "Peace."

In my short story series I had my bard hero, Sean, tell a story to a little boy who was very ill. This is the story he told about a very special butterfly.

Once upon a time there was a little boy who lived in a pretty cottage. The little boy’s room faced a beautiful garden. He would sit in his window seat and watch the butterflies as they flitted from flower to flower. The little boy thought that the butterflies were the prettiest things he had ever seen. One day a beautiful black and orange butterfly came and sat on the windowsill. “Hello little boy. I often see you sitting inside looking out at us. Why don’t you come out and play?” the butterfly said.

 

“Oh I can’t,” said the little boy. “I can’t walk good and I tire so easily. My mother says I need to stay inside.”

 

The butterfly flew inside the little boy’s room and sat on the dresser. He could see that the little boy was crippled and could only move around with the aid of crutches. “I understand,” said the butterfly. “We could still be friends though if you would like.”

 

“I would like that,” said the boy,” I have never had a friend. How come you can talk? I didn’t know butterflies could talk.”

 

“That is because I am the Monarch butterfly and King of my kind,” the butterfly said. “I am magical.”

 

The boy smiled. “Oh how wonderful!” he exclaimed. “I know someone who is magical.”

 

The butterfly came back day after day to see the boy. He could tell that the boy was very ill. The Monarch butterfly would tell the boy tales of places he had seen. The boy loved the butterfly’s stories.

 

As time passed the boy became weaker and weaker and there came a time when he could no longer get out of bed. One afternoon after the boy had fallen asleep the butterfly went in search of the boy’s mother. She was sitting at the kitchen table with her head on her arms and tears streaming down her cheeks. The butterfly landed softly on her arm. The woman lifted her head and looked downat the butterfly.

 

“You are the one who has been talking to my son aren’t you?” she asked the butterfly.

 

“Yes I have,” the butterfly replied. “You know he is dying don’t you?”

 

“I know,” she answered. “His life has been so hard. He was born crippled and never had the chance to do things little boys should do. His father walked out because he couldn’t cope with a son that wasn’t perfect.”

 

“Do you believe in magic?” the butterfly asked.

 

“I never did before but then my son kept talking about this magical butterfly and I wanted to believe for his sake,” the mother said.

 

“I can tell you love your child,” the butterfly said. “Do you love him enough to let him go?”

 

“Death will take him soon,” the mother said. “Do you have something better to offer?”

 

“I do but I will need to take him far away from here and you will never see him again,” the butterfly said, “but it is the only place where he will be able to live.”

 

“Where will you take him?” the woman asked.

 

“The place where butterflies live forever in peace and beauty,” the Monarch butterfly answered.

 

“Take him,” the woman said softly.

 

“You will be lonely without him,” the butterfly said. “Are you sure?”

 

“Yes, I’m sure. If I knew he was happy and well then those memories will sustain me through my loneliness,” the woman said.

 

The butterfly flew up and gently touched the woman’s cheek. The woman would say in the years that followed that she had been kissed by the butterfly.

 

The butterfly flew into the boy’s room and landed on his hand. The boy woke and smiled weakly.

 

“Your mother said you could come with me,” the butterfly said.

 

The boy looked over towards the doorway where his mother stood. She smiled at him and said, “Go with him my love.”

 

The boy smiled back at her. “What do I need to do?” he asked the butterfly.

 

“Nothing, just follow me,” the butterfly replied. As the butterfly left the boy’s hand the boy turned into a beautiful butterfly. The Monarch butterfly led the new butterfly out the window and they flew to a land that was so beautiful that it has become the land of dreams.