Butterfly Visits
She flew graciously through the warm and gentle summer breeze flying past the girl’s face, interrupting her worries. After getting her attention, the girl looked up from her notebook and whispered into the wind.
She watched her grandmother glide through the flowers, turning to look at the rest of the park. It was one of the first warm days in Madrid this year. There were friends, lovers, and families out that day to celebrate the end of a long winter. The girl was alone, so it was nice to have a visitor.
She landed right on her notebook; spread her beautiful wings, nearly symmetrical with an orange strip and a few white spots on each side, waiting calmly. The butterfly appeared to be looking up at the girl and rested for what seemed to be an eternity and only a moment at the same time. The two small blue eyes on the back inside of her wings seemed to be smiling at her. She dared not move to scare the butterfly away, because she looked soft, warm, and happy sitting there. She dared not speak as to spoil the moment. The girl smiled quietly to herself as a bird scared the butterfly away and watched as she landed nearby until the threat passed. Gradually she made her way back to the top of the girls left shoe.
The girl wondered if the butterfly was aware that she was her grandmother, or if, as most reincarnated creatures, she didn’t remember her previous life, but merely sensed a strong inexplicable connection to this particular being on this particular day. But it didn’t matter; the girl knew who she was. Grandma was always popping in right when she faced difficult situations in her life, or sometimes just to remind her she was headed in the right direction.
Her grandmother opened her wings as if she was basking in the warmth of the sun and then closed them to keep from blowing away. It must have been a lot of hard work to stay in one position as the wind could literally blow her away with one gentle gust, but maybe even more work to find her granddaughter in a sea of souls. Finally she got up and flew around, giving her only spectator time to switch positions. She began dancing in the wind, gliding through the breeze and though the girl was in her mid 20s, she too felt like a child again, playing with her grandmother. She enjoyed watching her swooping and looping across the pale blue sky. She landed on the right shoe this time, and sat there for a long time. She felt calm and happy just sitting there and the girl felt at ease, all of her worries vanishing in this moment. It was always good to see her grandmother healthy and smiling again.
She took a mental picture of the butterfly, and the wonderful yet brief visit from her grandma became a permanent record in her life video bank as the butterfly gracefully floated away.