Flutter by, butterfly~
Posted: 27 Sep 2023 04:56
Merily, merily, was I causally walking down butterfly lane, affecting reality. I flapped my wings, and I fluttered, and I understood not a thing. Soaring, soaring, gazing down on worms, caterpillars, and ants alike. Such lowly creatures! Never would I count myself among them. Verily, I'd rather consort with crows and be as a fly upon the wall - and they shall admire me, for I am fair. They will muse, how wondrous 'tis to fly, if only we were as fair as yon butterfly!
Yet, alas, tragedy did strike, as it oft does. Confusion, pain, sorrow... If there were walls, they would be closing in. Suffocating, squeezing, crushing...
~ *SNAP* ~
Oh dear, woe is me, for I've glimpsed mine reflection and realized a broken wing. Sobbing, sobbing, lament and disbelief, yet 'tis true! I do believe it! I wish it weren't so... Might I have another chance? Perchance I might mend it... *SNAP* ACK! My wing mends not. Shall misfortune continue? Is there any hope? Surely, there must be something that can be done... Many times did I fiddle with my broken wing to no avail; and those passing by did give me food and drink out of pity.
Ant: Hark ye, Butterfly! I have good for thee!
Bleeding Butterfly: Do say verily.
Ant: The colony hath constructed a chronometer! Time is now ours to command! Prosperity is assured!
Bleeding Butterfly: Why should I believe on thou, Ant? There are many like unto thee, and none have spoken thus.
Ant: Believe in me, and your wing shall be healed.
Bleeding Butterfly: Forsooth, I shall humour thee.
Ant: Dost thou trust me enough to crawl, to behold mine chronometer?
Bleeding Butterfly:To crawl is quite a foreign task, but I shall endure and follow thee.
So did we set off in twain - as a buttered ant, as He carried Him.
Ere, we had come to a crossroads.
Ant: Have ye the strength to crawl on yer own?
Bleeding Butterfly: I do ache with pain, but I will try.
Ant: Ye are slower than a snail!
Bleeding Butterfly: Then I should be giving up now, how I wish I could see the sky and be soaring!
Ant: Wilt thou not crawl of thine own accord? Have ye so little hope?
Bleeding Butterfly: You should be calling me tricky if I crawled all the way on my own!
Ant: You not seeing the air doesn't mean we aren't flying.
Suddenly a worm did appear.
Caterpillar: Abandon all hope! I am from the future. Turn back now, you are doomed.
Bleeding Butterfly: What do you know, crawling thing? Dost thou taketh me for a fool?
Caterpillar: I know thou art grounded; and thou shalt not soar.
Bleeding Butterfly: How dare! Ye have come to mock me? Is that it?
Caterpillar: Nay, I say verily, I have come to offer clarity, that ye might save time. Accept thy broken wing and embrace life as a crawler.
Bleeding Butterfly: I refuse to accept these terms! I demand to soar once more! Having been a crawling thing in the past, I know verily how awful and lowly it is; therefore shall I not return.
Caterpillar: You can't refuse, your wing is broken.
Bleeding Butterfly: Curse thee! I shall ascend!
Caterpillar: *Ahem* ... Before you go, see this.
Bleeding Butterfly: This image is strange, stranger. Is this not my likeness, yet with both wings broken?
Caterpillar: Have I not said, I am from the future, come to save ye time? You are doomed to break both wings and crawl until you are dead.
Bleeding Butterfly: This I can believe, that I could break both wings, but why say ye are from the future? Have ye forged this image to trick me?
Caterpillar: What have I to gain by lying to you? Flutterby, butterfly.
Ant: Ye can't even arrive on time! Your queue was after I said the word "hope".
Bleeding Butterfly: This is no coincidence. That worm revealed a future image of mine own self! How can this be? Surely, I'd not be depicted with a broken wing, let alone two!
Ant: Where I come from, people like you get called fake and get shot. You get shot, and you got spotted quick.
Bleeding Butterfly: What have I done to offend thee?
Ant: Don't think I have not considered what you have said and done. Listen. You've been looking for the way and I want you to know, ye will hear the truth from me.
Bleeding Butterfly: That worm saith I am doomed if I follow thee!
Ant: Consider carefully what thou hearest; for as thou judgest, so shalt thou be judged.
Bleeding Butterfly: I care not for judgment. I seek the goodness thou leadest me to.
Ant: How severely do you think someone deserves to be punished who has trampled thee underfoot and insulted thee?
Bleeding Butterfly: I have done no such thing!
Ant: Then fear not. I offer thee a glimpse of the chronometer, perchance to mend thy wing. But the path is thine to choose - I am but a messenger.
Bleeding Butterfly: I begin to believe on thee, Ant. For doom is certain either way. With thee, at least, hope remains.
Ant: Listen, you want to have come verily too far, but you still don't get it. Have I not served thee faithfully?
Bleeding Butterfly: Verily, thou hast. But the path hath been fraught with omens and uncertainty. Canst thou blame my doubts?
Ant: Nay, I blame thee not. Doubt is a natural part of any journey, especially one as perilous as this. Remember, every step taken is a step closer to the truth, and perhaps, a step closer to healing.
Bleeding Butterfly: I am weary, Ant. The weight of this broken wing, even my doubts - they bear heavily upon me. Still yet, I shall persevere; for I see now that thou art true in thine intentions.
(To be continued...)