“The Butterfly With The Broken Wing” by IPWW student

There was once a butterfly with a broken wing who struggled to stay alive in a world that sought to make its existence invalid. Null and void. All the other insects told him how useless he was, being that he had a broken wing. Some of the insects admired the beauty of his color but they would never admit it in front of the rest of the insects. Instead, they secretly envied his beauty and wished they were as beautiful as him. Some who knew the transition he made from an ugly caterpillar never missed an opportunity to remind him that they knew him “before” his transformation. They poked fun at his change and said that they liked him better when he was just another worm. But he ignored their comments and continued to build upon his strength so that one day his wing would heal and he could fly away from all the negative energy of his present environment.

Coming out of the cocoon that gave birth to his new image, the other insects told him he wasn’t any better than them; which he knew, but he also knew he was different. One day another butterfly was flying over him and as he looked up, he saw the grace and majestic manner in which it flew. He wished he could do the same. The other butterfly landed close enough to see him.

“Why aren’t you flying? Why are you down here walking around like the regular bugs?” the butterfly asked.

“Because my wing is broken so I can’t fly,” he replied. The other butterfly examined his wings and laughed.

“Who told you that your wing was broken?” she asked.

“All of the bugs walking around down here, and I’ve heard it for so long that I believed it,” he replied.

The other butterfly smiled, stopping for a moment before flying off.

“Your wing isn’t broken, but when you listen to other people’s value and opinion of you, especially those who don’t want to see you grow, you do yourself a grave disservice and you’ll never reach the heights of your true potential.”

At that point the butterfly who thought he had a broken wing flapped his wings and took flight for the first time. He saw the world and life from a new point of view, while leaving the negative insects and bugs who once made fun of him in the mud and dirt, where they belonged.

Dedicated to my granddaughter Khalani A.