~The Flap of a Wing~Chapter One~

Instructions

~Ch. 1~An Odd Name~ The sky was a brilliant blue, a gentle breeze making my braided hair swing around. I close my eyes, leaning against the weeping willow behind me, feeling the wind on my face. I run my finger along the spine of the book in my hand, and fidget with my pencil. I feel something touch my nose and gently open my eyes. I smile seeing the beautiful lavender-blue butterfly perched on my nose, the butterfly that gave me my name. Yeah, my weirdo parents named me after a butterfly. A butterfly whose wings are the same color as my ‘unique’ (nice way of saying weird and wacky) eyes. You see, my mom’s Indian and my dad’s from America, and I inherited my mom’s chocolate skin and my dad’s crazy, curly-wavy black hair. But my eyes look neither like my mom’s deep brown ones or my dad’s grayish green ones. They’re a mix of blue and purple, and they kinda stand out. My photographer parents (who disappeared off the face of the Earth a while ago, by the way) like (or liked, if you’re pessimistic. I’m using present tense because I know they’re alive… somewhere.) butterflies because of their ‘natural beauty’, and they know the names of like every butterfly ever, so my Hindi-derived name, Titalee, means butterfly. It’s a weird name and no one ever pronounces it right, so I go by Tita (or just T, for my friends). But it’s a cooler name than all the Emilys and Amandas, because once you know around 10 people with the same name it gets quite boring. I love butterflies too, but for a different reason then my parents. And I think the fact that a butterfly decided to sit on my nose means they like me too. Butterflies are really cool, scientifically. Apart from the ‘oh, yeah, they’re pollinators and do cool stuff to plants’, there's the Deterministic Non-periodic Flow, or the butterfly effect. It makes you feel a lot more significant and important because even the smallest choices, actions, or events can lead to huge changes. Huge changes that could transform the world as you know it. The butterfly seems to look right at me, maybe a little concerned that I just spaced out for a few minutes. And then, in a blur of purple, it’s gone.

Notes & Credits