Hana Kruse Page 47

Hana Kruse

Butterfly

Kendel Burke

The window remained opened like a giant, unblinking eye and a woman with silver hair and beady eyes sat in her wooden rocking chair at the center of her home. She anxiously lurched backward and forward, backward and forward, concentrating on the “tick tock” of her grandfather clock.

Her walls were black and her space was small and silent, afraid of letting in any light of any kind. She refused to leave her home or let anyone in, and she grew old alone s

and afraid of the outside world and those who lived there. One day she awoke suddenly and tried to stand from her rocking chair when she realized that she could not. Her legs were replaced with those of an insect and her arms were transformed into bright yellow wings. They flailed violently, as if they had a mind of their own and the elderly woman panicked at first, but she was overcome by a calmness and certainty. She felt awkward in her newly transformed body, but she did not feel scared. She was hit with a wave of courage and felt an uncontrollable urge to go where she had never gone before.

She flew through the invisible barrier that separated the outside world from her inside world and was immediately baptized in a flood of sunlight and sweet summer fragrances. The clouds swelled above her and drifted across the clear blue skies and her heart began to beat in sync with the rhythm of the songs the birds sang. Flowers straightened their backs and stretched their petals as she seduced them with her colorful patterns and gracefulness.

She observed the people: walking, running, playing, and talking. She listened intently to their languages and gazed in awe at how their hands moved like interpretive dancers. She blushed when they cursed their gods and giggled when they made their mindless mistakes. She noticed a man whose hands were shackled in metal rings, and she imagined taking them and turning them into halos so he could find freedom just like she had.

The wind carried her and she carelessly moved with the breeze, allowing it to bring her to the most beautiful places. The sun sank before her, and she blessed her eyes on the colors of the skies. The night creatures erupted in symphony and as darkness quietly swallowed the trees and the flowers and the grass, billboards and buildings glowed to life. She mistook an airplane for a shooting star