Spiders and Butterflies

Blue Butterflies

She had no idea what he had in mind and she didn’t care. They all walked together but she was staring at him and not baying the slightest bit of attention to where they were going nor her other companions. Her eyes were locked in his face.

At one point they stopped walking and She followed suit, just listening to Draven’s voice telling some story about a band he used to play with before he moved.

She wasn’t paying any attention as he led her to a set of steps leading to a platform for a carnival ride.

She barely noticed when Jon left to track down some other friends. She heard Draven ask Aaron if he wanted to go with them and he said ‘Nah, man, I’ll just wait here for you.’

A Carnie popped up and motioned us onto the platform. Draven led her about halfway down a row of seats-two by two by two-before motioning for her to take the one on the inside.

As he took the seat beside her, they locked eyes again and sunk into her seat.

Aaron cupped his mouth with his hands and called out from below ‘Take care of my girlfriend!’

Before she could even register and respond that she was NOT his girlfriend, Draven, never turning or breaking his stare, called back ‘She’s mine now.’

Her breath caught for a moment when the Carnie walked past us calling out ‘Pull the harness down over your head and across your chest until it locks!’

Obediently they both did so. The carnie made another lap back and pulled each harness to test that they were firmly and safely locked. Once that was done, he made a final pass to close the cages-

CAGES!?

Talk about a snap back to reality! She was in a cage! What ride was this?! What had she agreed to?!

She saw this ride earlier. It’s a long giant cage that spins in a verticals loop upside down over 100 feet I. The air!

She panicked.

As the Carnie got to their cage, she began pleading with him.

‘Hey! I’m so sorry but can you just let me off? I didn’t realize what this was and I’m afraid of heights and I really can’t do this-‘

Her pleas came out in a jumbled mess. The carnie looked at Draven and Draven calmly said ‘Don’t worry. I’ve got her. She’ll be fine.’

With a mischievous grin, he slammed the cage door and walked away-her begging falling on deaf ears.

She turned to Draven, her eyes starting to tear up ‘please! I’m afraid of heights! I can’t do this’ she rambled.

But he just smiled at her. He rested his hand gently on her thigh and very calmly said ‘Don’t worry. I’m with you. You’ll be fine.’

How could she be fine?! What was wrong with him?! Couldn’t he see she was having a panic attack?!

She heard a hear shift and felt the first movement as the giant death trap began to sway.

There was nothing she could do. She was trapped. She tucked her head to her chest, planted a death grip on the harness, locking both hands as tightly as she could and brought her knees up as close to her body as the harness would allow. Her breathing was rapid and her heart was racing.

And then came his voice.

Above all the noise of the ride, the screaming of the other fair goers and the music, he spoke clearly.

‘You’re safe. I’m here. I’m with you. We are together in a field. A big beautiful meadow with so many brightly colored flowers.’

Was he nuts? What in the world was this guy talking about?

‘It’s warm. Do you feel the sun on your skin?’

She was trying to ignore him and focus on her breathing as they swayed higher and higher.

‘It’s a nice breeze. Your hair looks so beautiful as it waves around your face. Look! Over in the distance. Do you see it? Over by that tree.’

She could t help but visualize what he was describing. The wind from the flipping cage rustled her hair and she could feel it tickle her cheek.

‘Right there at the base of the trunk. The blue butterflies.’

She paused for a moment, looked at him and said ‘You know, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a blue butterfly in real life.’ His smile widened and it took about two seconds for her to realize that in that moment-she was completely calm.

A split second later she realized they were suspended upside down!

She gasped as the caged dropped again for its last series of spins before slowing to a stop and she enjoyed every exhilarating moment of it.