This piece is a flashback to when the main character, Mina, is about 12 or 13 years old and her best friend, Luke, is about 14. Enjoy!
Butterfly Paints
The afternoon sun shone through the branches of the tree where Luke and I sat. Someone told me once that it was good luck if a butterfly landed on you. We sat cross-legged in our favorite spot. Suddenly he sat very still and told me to do the same.
“There’s a butterfly in your hair,” he whispered. It scared me to know that there was a bug in my hair, even one as beautiful as a butterfly. When I flinched Luke grabbed my hands just below the wrist and I held perfectly still. We sat there in perfect silence not wanting the good luck to go away before it was ready.
After a few minutes of him looking at the butterfly and my looking at him, waiting for him to tell me what to do, he brought his eyes to mine and smiled. I smiled back. The butterfly was moving in my hair. Its wings dropped a gold piece of hair onto my face. Soon after, it flew a slow circle around us and we sat as still as we could. It landed on my fingertip and made my heart rate sped to a thrumming in my chest.
His hands rotated slowly around my wrists so his hands were behind mine. The butterfly walked its way down my finger and into my palm. I was still scared that a bug was crawling on me, but I couldn’t move. Luke was there and his gentle hands on mine calmed me… a little.
Wings are interesting things and I suddenly felt myself wishing that I could have them. I wanted wings just like the green, blue and yellow ones we held in our hands. Luke was staring at me, I could feel it, but I couldn’t tear my eyes away from this beautiful creature. No painting or photograph could capture the moment, nor did I want them to. The sun glistened off her wing and made even the black edges shimmer. This had to be the luckiest butterfly in the world because it was the most beautiful.
I felt Luke’s hands slowly bring mine together to cup the butterfly. Her wings brushed the insides of my palms like tiny feathers. A slight giggle escaped my lips. It almost tickled.
He smiled and whispered, “She’s yours now.” His lips came closer to my ear. “You’ll have good luck forever.” Hazel eyes twinkled back at me and fingers traced my knuckles.
We talked about everything we could do with my newfound luck. Becoming rich and owning the tallest tree in the world that only we could climb. We would catch more butterflies and have more luck than we would ever know what to do with. That’s when I felt her wings slow in my hands. They didn’t feel as soft as they felt at first. It was almost like they scratched me now. Worry grew across my face and Luke’s questioned.
Slowly I opened my hands. Blue, green and yellow paint was splashed across my hands smudged in a dull black. She laid in the crevice where my hands came together, colorless and still. I searched Luke’s eyes for an answer but they didn’t have one.
