The Butterfly

A submission for IronAge Media's image prompt "The Pixie."

The butterfly fluttered through the air, his wings beating steadily. His journey had been long and arduous, but, he reminded himself, he would soon be home. There he could rest from his long journey before going on to the next.

He had seen kings and queens, rich people and poor people. Most had pointed to him, marveling at his glorious wings. But he knew he was just a humble insect, so he had ignored them and went on his way from and to his home. He took messages between the fairy kingdoms and had no time to spare for mortals or for vain thoughts. He didn’t need to have worried about that, since he really was a humble bug.

Suddenly, his exhaustion overtook him. His last message had been to the Duke of Ice many miles away and he had yet to stop. He looked and looked for a place to land and rest, but he saw nowhere to land. He would have to go on and push past his exhaustion.

Then he saw a handmaid of the fairy queen. She would not harm him he knew, so the butterfly flew down and alighted upon the hand she held out to him. The Fairy held him there in her hand as he regained some of his lost strength, and asked him of his journey. She listened intently and kindly, interested in this fellow servant of her king and queen. A few minutes later, he took his leave, bidding the fairy woman a good day.

Off he flew to his home, where he greeted his wife and his children warmly. He sat down in front of the fire to wait to diner and hear about his family’s day. He played with the children while telling his wife about his journey. Then, after a warm meal and a restful evening, he left for the fairy king’s palace to receive his next message to deliver.

He was a busy insect. But, as the butterfly reflected, he was a simple and happy insect. Kings had it grand, but they had so much to do. It was much nicer, in his opinion, to be a bug like him than it was to be a king with so many cares and wants and so much expected of one. Though, as he liked to remind himself, he was just a humble bug, and didn’t know much about such things.

The end,
God bless,