Butterfly Hollow: A Story

--This story is currently under construction--

Introduction

Did you know that there was a time when butterflies could not fly? It's true. For several hundred years, butterflies lost their wings. This is the story of how they lost their wings, forgot them altogether, and then regained them. Now, if only they can keep them!

Dedication

For Psalm
A Story Inspired by You,
A Prayer for Your Life,
From Your Mommy

The Story

Once upon a time, long, long, ago, there was a community of butterflies that lived in a place called Butterfly Hollow.

These butterflies were beautifully colored--with the brightest hues of yellows, oranges, reds, and blues the world has ever seen!

All day long, the butterflies in the hollow played or perched on the limbs of tall trees, and on the petals of brightly colored flowers. Sometimes they danced across the softly flowing brook, letting the tip of their foot touch the cool waters.

At night, the butterflies would find rest in the softness of the green, mossy banks, letting the quiet noise of the stream lull them to restful sleep.

It was so beautiful there, such a wonderful place, in Butterfly Hollow.

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No one knows exactly how it happened, or, more precisely, who started it, but there came a Fearful Dread upon all who lived in Butterfly Hollow.

The Fearful Dread was not a person or thing, exactly. It was a belief that somehow embedded itself into the minds of every member of the community.

No, no one knows how it started, but in a very short span of time, the butterflies came to believe that they would be safer, more comfortable, if they did not have their wings.

Although we have little but oral histories to rely on for a true account of what happened during this dark time, most believe that there was an original source of this Dread...and that this source had an unimaginable ability to sway the opinion of others.

And so, when this source convinced the butterflies that they would be better if they clipped their wings, that is precisely what they did.

The Fearful Dread consumed them all, even those who occasionally vocalized concern at the practice. Some wondered when was the best time to clip the wings. One idea was that they might consider waiting to clip the butterfly's wings until they were fully formed. Others believed it should be done early and as often as necessary, a type of "pruning," as they referred to it. No one knows precisely who made the decision to clip the butterfly wings as soon as they were fully formed, but that is what they did. For generations.

Yes, for hundreds of years, butterflies in this hollow never stood on anything but the grass beneath them. They did not know what it was like to fly from one flower to another, to descend upon the small leaf of a tree. They never got off the ground.

This was a dark time that came to Butterfly Hollow, threatening its very existence!

Butterflies without wings could not help to pollenate flowers. Butterflies without wings could not hide from predators. Butterflies without wings had a very narrow perception of the world around them.