The Butterfly Girl: A Star is Born

It Won't Be Long

[Sophia]

I stepped out from the depths of the forest and found myself within the largest clearing I had ever seen. I was so surprised by what I was seeing, I just completely stopped. I looked at everything there was to see, which was surprisingly nothing. I mean, literally nothing. The sky above me was just as clear as the ground I stood on. I mean, there was literally nothing. It was just a large field of grass. The edge of the forest wrapped around to my left and continued on in the distance, but the rest of it was just a rolling field of green.

The threat that was behind me was completely off my mind now. My mind was completely blank as I began walking forward. It was... so quiet out here. There wasn't even a breeze. I couldn't tell how far I had walked, but when I looked behind me, I could see the edge of the forest where I emerged, and somehow... it made me nervous. I turned back around and continued to observe my surroundings. My nervousness turned to anxiousness.

I'm out in the open.

Completely vulnerable.

My eyes locked onto every edge of the forest, hoping nothing would come chasing after me again. But... there was only nothing. I just stood there for a while, listening to all the nothingness. I wasn't sure... if I was safe out here or not. Something about this area just felt... odd.

A realization hit me and suddenly all my senses came back to me.

What am I doing out here, I was supposed to go find Apollo! That thing might come back and... Gah! I got totally distracted- Wait, what's that?

Somewhere off in the distance of the field, I saw a shape. Shape and color. I couldn't make it out from where I was standing, and once again all curiosity overtook me and I started wandering closer towards it. The air around me continued to stay silent. When I got close enough, I started recognizing all the shapes and began to run towards it.

No way... no way, no way! Is this...? This is a whole strawberry field. A mutant strawberry field!

Within the silent field was a large patch of dark green, littered with strawberries. My mouth hung open in awe as I continued to walk towards it. Strawberries of all sizes were hung on their short vines. Some were green, not quite ripe yet. The rest had all grown in various sizes. And by various sizes, I meant some were completely normal, while the largest one I saw was about the size of a large pumpkin. I wanted to pick one up to see how heavy they were, but I was a little nervous about making that attempt.

And yet, at the same time I was thinking about all of this... there was just no way! There was no possible way... I mean, a wild strawberry field? Out here? In the middle of all this nothingness? It didn't make any sense. And it continued to make no sense because I've never seen strawberries grow this big before! It should be impossible! There has to be something going on here... there just had to.

And at the same time, every instinct was telling me to pick off a few to take home, show Apollo and then we eat them all! (With a little sprinkle of sugar on top.)

My senses came back to me again. I pulled my satchel to the side and started rooting around for my phone. I focused the camera to make sure I got all the mutant strawberries in the shot so I could send it to Apollo, but looking through it, something else caught my eye again. I moved my phone away to see if what I was looking at was what was actually appearing on my phone camera. There was... something in the center of the field. I put my phone back and carefully stepped over the patches. What I discovered in the center left me speechless again.

There was a giant hole in the center of the strawberry field.

Small vines and leaves were creeping down into it, but as I leaned forward, there was nothing else to be seen. My nervousness came back again as I stared back into the gaping pit. It was just... nothing but darkness. I couldn't see how far down it went.

I quickly looked around for something to drop into and I managed to find a pebble. I took it and hovered my hand over the hole, the air around me still silent. I let go of the pebble and watched until it couldn't be seen anymore. I waited for a sound.

I waited...

And waited.

I didn't hear anything else.

I looked back into the hole, wondering if maybe I should find something bigger to drop. But the longer I stared into it, the more my thoughts changed.

What could possibly be down there, if there was anything there at all? This hole was too perfectly circular to just... occur naturally. And all the mutant strawberries around it, did they have something to do with it, or was it just a coincidence? Was it... some sort of weird cave? Maybe a secret dungeon full of creatures and beasts? Maybe they're guarding a treasure?

No, there's no way. Why am I thinking that, there's no way anything is hiding down there, much less any treasure of any sort..... But... what if there was...? I wonder what kind of treasure it would be. Eh... probably nothing. Could just be a big dirt hole.

My mind continued to wander as I looked down, before I tilted my head upwards and my gaze turned to the sky. Nothing out here but me and the strawberries. I tried to force myself to look back to the edge of the forest, back to where I had come from.

I really should get back and help Apollo. If I hadn't come home already, he'd be wondering where I'd gone.

And at the same time, I kept glancing down at the hole and another part of me began to speak up. I mean, I'm out here by myself, no one knows where I am, there's still plenty of daylight, and... I've got a flashlight in my bag..... With my wings, I could easily hover into the hole and use the flashlight to look around. I can at least see how deep it really is, and if there's nothing... or something down there, then I can just fly straight out, no problem. I'm sure if wouldn't take that long...

I glanced up into the distance and back down into the hole. As much as I really shouldn't..... I really shouldn't........ But I could...

My curiosity got the better of me and I started rooting around in my bag for my flashlight. It was a little old, but it still works just fine. I spread my wings and carefully lifted myself off the ground. Both anxiousness and excitement ran through me as I began to descend carefully into the hole. When it started getting darker, I turned on the flashlight and started waving it around.

I'll be quick...