Day 2

Day 2

Write a story that includes: a tombstone, a first kiss, and a butterfly collection…

Day 2

Sitting on the closely cropped grass, next to her mother’s tombstone, Lucy was sobbing silently at the sudden loss . She still had not come to terms with the fact that she was not there when her mother died.

Her father was too devastated by his own grief to pay much attention to the fact that Lucy was suffering from the sadness and guilt she had felt at her mother’s funeral ceremony. Even today they had barely spoken to one another, each being so immersed in their own loneliness

It was the butterfly collection that had taken her so far away from home. Finding it in the attic and asking questions about the collection, had led her to go far away for the year. She had spent time searching for the original family who had lived in the house before Lucy’s parents had moved there 10 years ago, looking for the young boy who had so obviously had collected butterflies as a hobby. His name had been tucked inside the glass casing of the collection.

Last year Lucy had gone to the fount of all knowledge, the Internet, and researched the boys name and location . She wrote to him and introduced herself, telling him the story of how she had found his butterfly collection and his name. Over the months they began a long distance correspondence and eventually Lucy agreed to meet him and his family. She packed her suitcase, flew across country and was greeted warmly by the family who had previously lived in her parent’s house.

The young man with whom she had built the relationship was especially pleased to see her, and excitedly took her by the hand to show her all that he had done since she had first written. Lucy was shocked; this surely could not be the same person who had collected and cased those beautiful butterflies all those years ago. This young man was obviously a damaged individual; his speech was slow, his excitement just a little too frantic. His parents watched as Lucy looked bewildered as he grabbed her hand and dragged her away to his “best friend”. The young man’s best friend was in fact his older brother and had been an onlooker to this moment, but now he stepped forward and gently introduced himself. He explained that he had been the one who had been answering the letters, who had helped her to join him and his family for a visit; it had been him who she had gradually come to know so well. He explained that his younger brother had been collecting butterflies when he had fallen and struck his head on an outstanding rock. Brain damage had caused the young one to change, and so when Lucy’s first letter had arrived, he had written back to her. It had been his letter s and e-mails that Lucy had been responding to. The love he bore for his younger brother was patently obvious, and Lucy , who had already been drawn to his personality by his letters, now felt even more strongly, that this was a man of whom her parents would approve. The “butterfly boy” as Lucy now called him, was so fond of Lucy that his family asked her to stay on with them, so with her parent’s agreement , Lucy remained with the family for a long time. She got a part time job in their town, and was able to give companionship and compassion to the badly damaged young man, for this was what he was. The relationship between Lucy and the older brother had time to blossom while she was staying with the family, and it was a shock when her father had telephoned and told her to come home immediately.

Rushing to the airport Lucy was distraught with worry, and saddened when her first real kiss, was the one that she and butterfly boys brother exchanged as they said goodbye to each other.