Dreaming of Butterflies

Digital, December 2020

The boy and the girl crawled through a dark tunnel. Their knees, hands, arms, and elbows got dirty and acquired a few scrapes here and there. After a while, they noticed the sky getting lighter and lighter, and the ceiling of the tunnel grew higher and higher, until the dense walls gradually became golden archways with vines embracing them.

The two looked above them and saw an extraordinary sight: multi-colored flowers and butterflies, but what caught their attention the most were the blue morpho butterflies that went from flower to flower. Coincidentally, the dawn came, as they stood there together, taking all the world in.

It was as if life gave them a chance, or rather, asked them a question: “Are you ready to live?”

The girl, without looking at the boy, said: “Do you want to try?”

The boy, without looking at the girl, answered, “Try what?”

“Go beyond. See what’s out there. For you and for me.”

The boy then gently touched the girl’s hand and held it.

“For us.”

They looked at each other before they took a step together from the last day of the year to the first day of the new one, ever hopeful, ever hopeful.