Spring brings Wings

For as long as I can remember, I’ve spent my days cowering from everyone, even my reflection. My days include walking along the outskirts to avoid confrontation, using the difficult and beaten down the road to travel to school to avoid menacing eyes, sitting at the very back of the classroom so everyone’s heads are turned away from me, this is my typical day of living in the shadows, literally. My hut resides on the edge of the forest, away from the rest of civilization.

Our kingdom is relatively small, the kingdom of Amaris, a name of Hebrew origin meaning “promised by God.” It is a pretty good definition considering our kingdom is very well off, comprising rich fields, vast meadows, hundreds of colorful flowers, and glistening rivers. We’re a little kingdom, but prosperous. The residents of Amaris comprise the Ladybugs, who make up the clergy because of their unique beauty. The rest of the species comprises regular ants, beetles, grasshoppers, and other tiny insects. I, however, was a species nobody wanted to associate with, a worm, long, slimy, and fat. My legs barely carried me and I spent most of my day munching on the greenery surrounding me. I repulsed those who looked at me, I lacked the attractiveness most of my peers had, the colors that drew in human beings and mesmerized them. Humans never touched an ant because they believed them to be hardworking and a noble species, they depended on the dragonflies to tell them when it would rain, they watched beetles, grasshoppers, and ladybugs with fascination but they scrunched their nose and turned away whenever they saw a worm, in my kingdom, I was the only one, an outcast.

I spent most of my days enjoying the sun on my small balcony and eating to my heart’s content. My school days passed with me canvasing the library and doing extra assignments, anything to help me pass the time. Sometimes I wish my parents were still around, but they were killed in the war. The war led to the formation of Amaris when it was cut and separated from the rest of the territory.

Our kingdom depended on the falling rain and the glowing sun to live long and happy, I was often berated for consuming too much of the leaves and wildlife surrounding us.

“Arent you already fat enough?” They would ask me, belittling me. There were days when I would curl up on myself and curse my family for giving birth to me and abandoning me, leaving me to live as I am after they created this abominable creature.

One morning, while I was fetching water from the lake, I saw a withering form next to the bank of the river. It was a creature with a long body and wings in a shape id never seen before; it fascinated me. My thoughts were interrupted when the creature started wheezing and coughing. I pulled it from the bank to the shore and stilled while it regained its composure. 

“What are you?” I asked, inquisitively. The creature, however, did not respond and continued to look at me with glassy eyes.

“Have they erased our existence?” It said in a mysterious tone.

“Our?” This creature was scaring me, but as I backed away, it walked towards me.

“Where am I? someone knocked me out while flying-”

“Flying?” I questioned. No insect had flown since the war, those who had that rare ability were exterminated by the humans or they had fled to bigger and better things, being the superior species. We hadn’t seen flying insects in a long, long time. “You can fly?”

The creature tilted its head at me and sighed, a strange knowingness passing over its face, “You must be a part of the remnants of the destruction.”

My awkwardness grew with every word it said, unable to understand what the creature was trying to convey.

“Your little city, it will fall. You should eat more” This was the last thing the creature said to me before it started stalking in the opposite direction and before I could collect myself, it was gone. Amarsia would fall? This was not a speculation, it was a surety. We were prosperous, no doubt, but we lacked sustainability. None of us can fly, the ants can only go so far, slowly our materials will deplete and it will leave us with nothing. Once upon a time, the birds helped us but soon turned away to migrate. The elders of our town believed in saving grace, but the realists saw none. The statement directed towards my diet was peculiar, considering the lack of connection to the prophecy it shot at me.

Being the creature I was, I started to eat more because I constantly craved more, more leaves every day. This did not bode well with the townsfolk considering the diminishing resources. I started hoarding, and the elders grew furious. 

As spring approached, with each passing day, our resources were reduced. The heads of the village, mostly comprising the ladybugs, started rationing food and the amount sold to the population was reducing because everyone started becoming more and more selfish.

The only way to save our civilization was to cross the river and call the birds to return and bring edibles, but the water threatened to drown us all before we even wandered near it so our hope was wearing thin.

I was quite ignorant to the plight of the people of the kingdom as my stash of food was enormous and my hunger was insatiable. I attempted to tune out their problems, but I felt guilty and would start giving small portions of my food to the children wandering near my house. Some would accept it, some stuck to their preconceived notions of me and refused an offer.

Each day got worse and my health deteriorated as well, I started becoming tired but my appetite remained the same. I wandered out one evening and sat on a plant next to the river. My eyes drooped and I could see a blanket covering my vision. Before I could decipher the situation, I was under.

I do not know how long I was out, I only recall waking up surrounded by a thick cover. I panicked; I screamed for help, but nobody came. After calming down, I pushed through the substance and fell out. I looked down on the ground and saw a shadow of wings; I thought the birds returned and rejoiced but when I looked around there were nowhere to be found, but the shadow still was.

When I craned my neck to look behind me, I was astonished. Wings! They were on me; I was no longer fat, and I had wings! With one flap my body took off, I was flying! It attracted me to the surrounding flowers, the trees, the sky-it was beautiful!

Without thinking, using my newfound power, I rushed to find the birds. They were perched on a cherry blossom tree. I found them and explained our entire situation. They nodded their heads and promised to help. They plucked leaves and twigs and every green substance and followed me back home.

Our village elders were shocked, they saw the birds and cheered so loudly by ears couldn’t bear it.

They looked at me and cried, “Our savior has come!”

Quizzical, I couldn’t understand. Could they not recognize me?

Before I could explain to them I was the same creature they shunned, they continued to shout.

“This rare creature is our salvation!”

One of the birds tilted its head and stared at me, “Rare creature? She's a butterfly.”