Wings in the Sun

The chrysalis split. First came a head, then soft, crumpled wings.

Out stepped a butterfly — orange and black, with wings that looked too big for its tiny body.

It rested on the leaf, very still. Slowly, slowly, the wings opened and flattened in the sunshine, like paper drying.

Bella hardly breathed. "Hello," she whispered. "You were the stripy one. Now you fly."

The butterfly fanned its wings once, twice, then lifted into the air and danced above the flowers.