The Cream Owl Butterfly

“Make a wish butterfly!” The words echoed all around her, resounding off the walls, and dissipating into a subtle, cinnamon scented vibration as she sucked them in with a long, deep breath. Holding it, for just a short moment as she watched shadows dance around the room in the pale orange light emitting from four flickering birthday candles. A short moment that felt like an eternity.

I wish... Anna’s nose tingled slightly from the much-too-loud aroma of the cinnamon broomstick her mother insisted on putting out every Halloween. It was very distracting. Her father, mother, and older brother stood around the table watching her. Her eyes moved to handful of ornately wrapped pink and gold presents, and one oddly plain package messily wrapped in brown paper, all resting on floor in front of the hutch that held her mother’s nick-knacks and collection of glass bells.

Anna loved ringing the glass bells. She wasn’t supposed to touch her mother’s nick-knack collection, but sometimes, when her mother was hanging the clothes out to dry in the back yard, she would sneak into the kitchen and softly jingle each individual bell and listen to all the different sounds they made. Her favorite, though, was a white, porcelain bell with a picture of a blue and black butterfly suspended in flight. With every motion the sound became the fluttering of the butterfly's wings. A dreamy cadence that brought the butterfly to life.

Anna had always loved butterflies, which is why when her dad called her name one night she refused to answer. When her dad asked her why she didn't reply she pointedly told him her name was Butterfly from now on. She was a stubborn child, she got it from her mother.

I wish... She hadn't thought this far. She had been considerably more excited about the birthday wish than the cake, and yet she never even considered what she would wish for. Just as any young child, it was the magic of a wish that allured her. Since her birthday fell on Halloween, she had no need to wish for candy. And she had lots of toys and friends, and Pokémon cards and a big Camphor tree in the front yard for hours of climbing adventures, what else could she possibly want?

Breath still held, Anna stood on the wobbly brown kitchen chair, swaying back and forth purposefully, as the glittering wings of her butterfly costume bounced with every tilt. She closed her eyes and imagined herself as a butterfly, gracefully floating in the wind. In the eternity of that small moment, Anna had her first glimpse of herself as a being. Separate from others, but not so different. Her first moment of clarity that she was a separate person from those around her, with separate feeling and thoughts.

I wish... I wish to be a butterfly when I grow up! The wish came to her as if a voice in the sound of her own spoke through her. She had pulled the abstract from the ether and gave it the form of her heartfelt, authentic wish. She opened her eyes and tenaciously blew the four candles out. Taking extra care to get them all in one breath. The breath that would push her wish out into the universe. As the last flame burned out, it burned into her memory the short moment that seemed to last an eternity.

After her cake, her family quickly moved on to opening presents. Although she loved her new toys; a small Robo-dog, the beautiful porcelain doll, and the new pack of Pokémon cards she had received, Anna was lost in contemplative thought over the significant moment she had just experienced. She would make sure her wish came true no matter what. She was going to be a butterfly when she grew up.

It wasn’t until the strange package wrapped messily in slick brown paper was placed in front of her that she was brought back to the present moment, curiosity piqued. “FROM DADDY” was scrawled across in large capital letters, a tell-tale sign of her father's handwriting. She unpeeled the edges and rolled back the fine paper, ripping some as she revealed an old cereal box. Confused, Anna looked up at her father as he nodded his head toward her, in a gesture she interpreted as her being told to open it.

She unfolded the edges and pulled out the contents to find a wad of bubble wrap encasing a framed glass with something inside. She slipped the frame out of the bubble wrap, making sure to squish and pop a few satisfying bubbles as she did. She set the bubble wrap to the side of her chair next to her toys so her parents knew they weren't supposed to throw it away. She would play with that later.

She didn’t know what to make of the gift at first. Encased within a rich, ebony wood frame, lay 2 pieces of glass about an inch apart. Nestled atop a plain, black background was a real cream-colored butterfly whose lines she obviously took a lot of care in painting while inside her cocoon. The patterns gave the impression of a modest butterfly on one side, and the other, resembled the unmistakable visage of an owl, with eyes piercing through the dark eerily. The words “THE OWL BUTTERFLY” printed neatly across the bottom.

Anna's heart was full. It was as if the universe was acknowledging her wish. She gratefully thanked her family for all the presents, and gave her father a big hug as she headed off to bed, with her Cream Owl butterfly frame tucked safely under her arm.

Thankyou for reading! If you enjoyed my story, please consider dropping a heart, sharing to social media, or reading any of the other stories listed below.

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