5. The butterflies’ clearing.

The clearing was not yet visible when a perfume of flowers and wild fruits intoxicated me. It was autumn, but the air there was springlike. A sweet sensation of placidity flooded my body while a slight drowsiness clouded my mind. I rubbed my eyes to wake up, and when I opened them again, I saw the butterflies’ clearing. It was so beautiful that It felt like a dream!

My friend began to spin, looking at the sky with her arms outstretched like a top. I laughed, seeing her so happy, and started doing the same. We twirled and giggled until we got dizzy and fell onto the cool grass scented with chamomile and clover.

«Let’s find a four-leaf clover and make a wish,» she said.

I ignored her words, and while she was looking for her clover, I stared at the sky and breathed deeply to fill my lungs with those exquisite fragrances.

«I’ve found one!» she cried after a while, lying beside me and facing the sky. «I wish to get out of this forest with no more scrapes or effort, with beautiful butterfly wings,» she claimed. And with a sigh, she added: “Or perhaps it would be better if a handsome prince came to rescue me on his white-winged steed…” 

At that moment, Fantasy came flying towards us, and sitting next to my friend’s ear, she began to whisper a story that spoke of a beautiful yet miserable young lady. Her mother did not love her and forced her to work day and night. She constantly mistreated the poor child, and the unfortunate girl, feeling lonely and helpless, used to dream of the day someone took her out of that horrible place.

In time, a brave prince, hearing that a beautiful maiden was waiting for someone to help her, took a chance to prove himself worthy. He knew he would face the wicked witch holding the girl prisoner, but he found courage, mounted his magnificent flying horse, and went to her rescue. Meanwhile, in the young lady’s house, a fairy godmother, not very powerful but quite convincing, advised her to put up with her mother’s mistreatments, for Prince Charming was already coming on his white steed, the flyer: “Be docile and obedient, and never stop dreaming of a happy life awaiting you, my dear girl!”

In this passage of Fantasy’s story, my friend fell sound asleep. The fairy continued to whisper things in her ear, while Melancholy and Laziness, with their finest silk threads, began to weave a soft and almost invisible white cocoon around her.

I was getting bored, so I sat down and looked at the surroundings, and noticed that among the lower branches of the fruit trees, there were several silken cocoons. The clearing was populated with beautiful butterflies of every size and color imaginable, fluttering happily and carefree among the flowers. I then got up and walked around the clearing a bit, ate some blackberries and figs, and was surprised to find that despite their appetizing appearance and delicious perfume, the fruits of the clearing were not as sweet or tasty as they seemed. But that place was still dreamy, and I wanted to stay there. 

A little sleepy, I sat down again under a mulberry tree and heard Fantasy begin to whisper one of her stories in my ear. I closed my eyes to imagine what she was telling me. It was a story about an intelligent boy who loved playing on the computer. He was a swift learner of all the games, and when he was in high school, he entered a competition from which he emerged as regional champion. The following year, he was the national champion, and in a short time, he was the best gamer in the world.

He became rich and famous before becoming an adult and was hired by an international company to invent new video games. And at the age of twenty, he was making so much money, that he didn’t know what to spend it on!

As I was falling asleep, I imagined I was that boy. But suddenly I heard someone sneezing in front of my face and “Ouch!” It burned me like a flame!

«I’m sorry, I don’t like to make bugs suffer, but it’s the only way I know to undo these silk cocoons,» my little friend Destrouch apologized as he sat on my bent knees in front of my face. I recognized him by his voice as I was covering my face with my hands, sore and bewildered by the assault of his blaze.

I immediately heard Hope’s voice. She handed me a banana leaf impregnated with something that smelled like mint and eucalyptus and told me to put it on my face and press it with my hands for a few moments: «Don’t worry, it’ll go away in a few minutes,» the fairy assured me with a maternal tone.

So it was. Soon, I could remove the leaf from my face and see Destrouch and Hope sitting on each of my knees, looking at me a little worried.

«Are you better now?» the dragon asked me with a somewhat unusual tenderness.

«Yes, it hardly hurts anymore,» I reassured him. And then I asked suspiciously:

”Why did you do that to me? What is happening here? What is this place?”

“Okay, okay, slow down! One question at a time, please,» said Hope in her teacher’s voice.

“You were falling under these fairies’ spell, so I had to burn their threads before they finished knitting their cocoon. Otherwise, you would have stayed here, and it is not your destiny to become a butterfly,» explained Destrouch.

And Hope added: «These young dreamers that you see sleeping in their white cocoons lack the willpower and courage to fight for their wings. They prefer to spend their lives dreaming of blue-blooded princes, crystal castles, flying carpets, and winged horses instead of trying to find feathers in the forest, enduring scrapes, and overcoming fears as they acquire the maturity and strength that the quest requires. However, the spirit of this forest is as demanding as it is generous. That is why even these weak and lazy bugs are granted butterfly wings with which they can fly through these corners of his kingdom.

Some never leave here, while others use those wings to flutter around, searching for the feathers they could not find before. With my support, these bugs may finally earn real wings to leave the forest of adolescence,» concluded the fairy.

«Why can’t the spirit of the forest give us real bird wings, but he does give away butterfly wings?» I asked, a little tempted to stay there, too. I imagined how nice it would feel to be wrapped in one of those soft and comfortable cocoons in that beautiful place, letting my wings grow without any effort.

Hope explained: «Well if you spend the whole day sleeping peacefully instead of moving and exercising, your bug body becomes limp and weak over time. You won’t develop the strong muscles necessary to handle bird wings and learn to fly with them. The only wings such a flaccid body can tolerate are the slender and magical butterfly wings created by these fairies. Of course, with those wings, you can’t fly very high or go too far!,» she pointed out; knowing I longed to go as high and far as possible.

Hearing this made me feel a bit depressed and nostalgic. The idea of having to push myself was unbearably unfair! Why did everything have to be difficult? Why couldn’t the forest spirit give us our wings without asking for anything in return? I asked my new friends about this, and to my surprise, the one who answered me this time was Fantasy, who had remained sitting on top of the mulberry tree, listening to our conversation: “He does give away wings without asking for anything in return! He gives these beautiful butterfly wings that we help create, to all these cute bugs who are reluctant to put in the effort to get better wings for themselves.”

Melancholy added: “The spirit of this forest grants every bug the wings that he or she needs to reach their destiny, and that they can drive by themselves.”

We kept silent for a few minutes. Until Melancholy, noticing my inner struggle, spoke again:

“Perhaps we should tell him about the mysterious book that suddenly appears in the forest…”