Where Flick Paused: story transcript
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Where Flick Paused
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Oona knew the way to her resting hollow: past the split stone, around the fallen trunk, and under the leaning tree. She liked to reach it before dusk, when the ground still held a little warmth. Today, Flick floated across her path and settled on a low leaf.
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Oona went around the trunk. Flick did not follow. The butterfly rose, crossed a narrow strip of grass, and rested again, farther from the hollow. Oona stopped. She could still see her tree through the branches. Why did Flick keep choosing the other way?
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Flick lifted from the leaf and drifted to a broad stone. Oona followed slowly enough to notice the ground beneath it: bare earth, then a thin trail of flattened grass. The trail curved away from her tree. Flick rested at its bend, wings opening and closing.
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Oona put one foot on the trail. The earth was firm, and the grass brushed her ankles. She took another step. Flick moved ahead, but only as far as the next patch of sunlight. Each time Oona reached her, the butterfly fluttered on.
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At the edge of a stand of tall plants, Flick stayed still. Oona waited too. A breeze moved the leaves aside, and a narrow opening appeared. Oona could have turned back; the leaning tree was not far away. Instead, she watched the opening until the leaves parted again.
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She eased through. On the other side, the flattened grass ended beside a shallow dip in the earth. A few dry leaves lay inside it. Oona sniffed the rim, then pressed it gently with one foot. The dip was firm, and the wind passed over rather than through it.
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Flick landed on a plant beside the dip. Oona looked from the butterfly to the dry leaves, then toward her old hollow. There, the leaning tree's shadow had already spread across the ground. Here, a last patch of sun reached the sheltered earth.
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Oona turned once inside the dip. It was just wide enough for her small, sturdy body. She folded her legs beneath her and rested her chin near the leaves. Flick opened her wings on the plant while the sunlight thinned across Oona's back.
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The patch of sun slipped away. Oona stayed warm in the hollowed earth, listening to the tall leaves stir above her. Flick lifted into the evening and disappeared among them. Oona watched until the leaves were still, then tucked her nose beneath her frill.
