The Butterfly Girl: A Star is Born

Up and About

[Sophia]

It was late by the time I finally got back home. Not too late, but the sun had already set. Apollo was waiting for me, wondering why I hadn't responded to any of his texts all day. At first, I wasn't sure what to say. I didn't know where to begin, or how much of the truth I should really explain to him. I know he's my best friend and all, but would he really believe me? Especially without any proof.

When I started explained what happened, my attention turned to him and I asked what happened while I was getting chased down by that creature. Apollo took the reins and excitedly started explaining his side of the story. He seemed... just about as nervous as I was. But the more he kept talking, the more surprised I got. We talked late into the night. I don't think either of us could believe what had happened to us in one day. Afterwards, we didn't know what to do with ourselves. But we agreed that we all had to meet each other as soon as possible.

Neither of us could really sleep after that. I think the both of us were too anxious to see if either of us were really telling the truth.

A few days passed. I know we meant to go meet our new friends, but we ended up getting caught up in our own chores. And then... getting distracted even further by all the games we played and the TV shows we were watching together, so...

One day, Apollo and I happened to wake up earlier than usual and he said he'd take the opportunity to run to the store to pick up some things. He suggested I go by the tree house, so by the time he got back, we could go looking for our new friends and bring them all together. I agreed and we both left the house.

I walked all the way down to the tree house, thinking maybe I should clean things up there. And then I realized that... there was nothing to clean. With that, I unfolded my wings and took off into the sky, heading towards the clearing just beyond the forest where the mutant strawberry field was. I enjoyed the longer flight.

I landed just outside the strawberry field. Taking a deep breath in, I could smell the sweetness. I pulled my bag over and started rustling through it, pulling out a large plastic container and popping off the lid. I started walking through the thick bushes, looking for the largest strawberries I could find. Not the giant ones, but the bigger-than-normal ones. I did happen to find plenty of normal sized strawberries, but I also found a couple that were as big as my palm. I was wandering closer and closer to the giant hole in the ground. Once the container was full, I popped the lid back on and put the container back in my bag. I was excited to bring them home and taste them. I briefly thought about making a cake with them or something.

That was... until I heard something loud echo from the hole. It startled me and I whirled my head around, staring at it. I couldn't be sure that what I heard was... real. I took a few steps closer and it happened again. Almost like a dull roar, echoing from the depths. Something about it made my hair stand on end. And then I heard something else echoing. Sounded almost like... shouting? The echoes were too muddled together, I couldn't quite tell what it was, but it was loud. And... it was getting louder the longer I stared into the pit.

"Hello?" I called into the pit. My voice seemed to echo for only a moment.

"Hello?" I called louder. My voice felt like it reached all the way down.

I heard a loud roar that made me flinch and I heard the shouting getting louder too. I had no idea what was going on down there, but it made me nervous. I began to hear scraping and shuffling as the echoes grew louder, reaching upwards. I thought about... going down there to check it out myself. And then I immediately thought that was a bad idea. Instead, I leaned over the edge and looked deeper into the hole. The roars stopped and I began to hear something else. My eyes picked up movement from the bottom of the hole and I tried to focus on it. The shapes... were getting larger. I realized they were getting closer towards the surface. Another shout made me gasp and step back as a pair of figures shot out of the hole. I stumbled back as I watched them climb into the air. They shouted and yelled again.

I recognized their wings and my eyes widened at the sight of them. I started running after them through the strawberry field.

I saw the boys fly into each other repeatedly, as if they had forgotten how to fly. They cried out, almost as if they were in pain. Like they were shriveling up in the sun or something. They finally crash landed a ways from the strawberry field and I went after them. I found where they landed and I saw them clutching their faces.

"You guys!"

They flinched at the sound of my voice, but they turned their heads towards me, refusing to look up.

"Who... who is that?" they strained.

"Guys, it's me. Are you okay? What happened?"

"It... is it..... is it really you?"

"It's... so bright. It's so bright out here."

I opened my wings and moved the shadows over their faces, blocking the light.

"Is that better?" I asked.

I watched the boys sit up on their knees, covering their eyes, but they moved their fingers apart just slightly. They tried to look up at me. They struggled, but I think they finally recognized who I was.

"It is you."

"It's still... bright out here."

I looked back and forth for a moment.

"Here, follow me. We can move somewhere where it's darker. Can you get up?"

I led the boys away from the exposure of the sun to the depths of the forest where the shade of the trees was much darker and the boys slowly adjusted better to the light. I continued to keep my wings over them for additional shade.

"Is... this any better?"

"Uh... yeah, a little bit." they replied.

"Sorry, I thought I'd be able to warn you. Since you've spent so much time living in the caves where it's really dark, you'd struggle a lot more adjusting to the light. You know, for a moment I was worried you had gone blind."

"I thought we were blind... Is it always this bright up here?"

"Uh... yeah?"

"Really? And you live like this everyday? How come you're not blind?"

"Uh... cause' I live up here. It's... supposed to look like this. It's normal."

It took them a long while to finally adjust, but at least they stopped covering their eyes. We were silent as I watched the boys observe their surroundings, looking at the forest for the first time in their lives. If they weren't squinting so hard, I'd say they almost looked enamored. So much to see, so much to look at. I hoped it wasn't too overwhelming for them...

But at the same time, as they swiveled their heads left and right, I noticed something different about their eyes. I never made eye contact with them, but I couldn't help noticing the shape of their irises were different. When I saw them in the caves for the first time, I thought they were normal, but out here I could clearly see that they resembled cats' eyes.

Big and round in dark places, and thin and sharp in bright light.

These boys were much less human than I was.

(Human looking at least.)

"So... what happened to you guys?"

"Huh?"

"I was... coming back for you, but when I made it to the giant hole, I heard... noises. Like, screaming or something."

"Oh, yeah! We almost forgot to tell you!"

"Something was down there with us. In the caves." they spoke in turn.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Well, we were waiting for you to come back, but then we heard these strange sounds..."

"We were trying to find out where they were coming from, until something screamed at us!"

"Something was chasing us and we had no choice but to leave. We were going to try and find you. Good thing you ran into us first."

"Did... did you see what was chasing you?" I asked.

"Not really. But it was something big."

"And scary too. I dont... I don't know if it's safe to go back down there..."

"Wow... are you guys okay? You're not hurt or anything?"

"No, I don't think so... but... I don't know what we're supposed to do now..."

"Well, that's no problem! See, I was actually coming to get you so you could meet my best friend!"

"Really?"

"Yeah! Uh... sorry it took so long. But I promise, you guys are gonna like him and it is totally safe up here!"

"Totally... safe?"

"Yep! As long as you stick with me, I promise nothing is gonna happen. You'll see. There's so much stuff we can show you!"

"So, do you... live around here?" they asked.

"Yeah, kinda. I'll show you. It's not that far from here. I mean, whenever you guys feel ready, we can get going."

"And... you're sure it's... safe?"

"Well, we wouldn't be living out here if it wasn't safe, right? It's okay, everything will be fine."

"Well... if you say so..."

After a moment or two, the twins got up and and I started leading them through the forest to the tree house. I was excited to show them all the things we had. I had a feeling they were going to love it. The twins kept getting distracted every now and then, pointing things out in the forest and asking questions. They flinched at the sounds of birds, which I explained was normal and were harmless creatures. They stared up at a small one in a nearby tree and I took the opportunity to take out my phone while they weren't paying attention and I sent a text to Apollo.

> You're not gonna believe what happened. The twins are here up on the surface! We're coming back to the tree house now. I'll tell ya more when we're there!