Butterfly House

Once upon a time, just the other day, there lived a family of five just down the street. Some days Momma stayed home, and some days Daddy stayed home. Every day Ava Anne, Savannah Lynn, and Hunter Thomas stayed home. Nothing extravagant ever seemed to happen. In fact, every day seemed almost the same as the day before. When Ava Anne, Savannah Lynn and Hunter Thomas awoke, they would tiptoe out of their bedrooms, down the hall, and to the kitchen. Momma or Daddy would be there or on the nearby couch, reading or eating or doing something uninteresting like sorting mail.

On this particular day, they were celebrating. It was the first day of spring. Everyone was awake and happily eating breakfast together. Today they were going to visit a butterfly house. Momma and Daddy had been talking about it for weeks, saying they would take Ava Anne, Savannah Lynn, and Hunter Thomas on the first day of spring.

Ava Anne had visited a butterfly house once before. She knew how magical it was to have butterflies landing on her arms and in her hair. She told Savannah Lynn and Hunter Thomas—who had never been to a butterfly house—how much they would love it.

“Is it time to go yet?” Savannah Lynn asked as she shoved the last bite of cereal in her mouth.

“In just a few minutes,” Momma replied. “You all need to finish your breakfast. Oh! I need to grab the camera, too.”

Daddy peered over his morning newspaper at Hunter Thomas.

“Are you ready to see those butterflies?” Daddy asked Hunter Thomas.

Hunter Thomas grinned and nodded.

“You know, there are birds, too. Maybe one of them will let you pet him,” Daddy said.

Hunter Thomas’s eyes grew bigger. He wondered what kinds of birds lived in the butterfly house.

“Ahw theh-ah wizards?” Hunter Thomas asked with wide eyes.

Daddy grinned and said, “No, I don’t think there are any lizards at the butterfly house, but you never know. We can certainly look for some.”

“Ok,” Momma said, “time to go!”

Ava Anne and Savannah Lynn had already taken their cereal bowls to the sink. Now they dashed toward the door. Hunter Thomas put down his spoon and ran to the door where his shoes were. He sat down and tried to stuff his feet into his new sandals.

“C’mon, Hunter Thomas, let’s go!” Ava Anne said impatiently.

Momma helped Hunter Thomas finish putting on his shoes, and the family of five was out the door. They climbed into their green minivan, buckled their seat belts, and off they went!

“How long will it take to get there?” Ava Anne asked.

“Oh, half an hour,” Daddy replied. “When the clock says ten o’clock, we should be there.”

“That’s kind of a long time,” Ava Anne said.

Momma put in their favorite music to pass the time more quickly. Sure enough, before they knew it, Daddy was pulling the minivan into the parking lot of the butterfly house.

“Ahw we he-ah?” Hunter Thomas asked.

“Yes!” Ava Anne answered.

She could hardly wait until Daddy had parked the minivan to unbuckle her seat belt. She and Savannah Lynn raced to the door before Momma could get Hunter Thomas out of his car seat.

Once inside, everyone received a large butterfly sticker to place on her shirt. This let the workers know they had paid to see the butterflies. They were also instructed not to touch the butterflies’ wings because this could harm them.

Finally, the family of five was allowed to slowly enter the butterfly house. They passed through two sets of doors designed to help keep the butterflies inside. Right inside the door was a large palm tree. The butterfly house warm and humid.

“Oh! Look at the waterfall,” Savannah Lynn said.

At the bottom of the small waterfall was a pool with many fish.

“Fish!” Hunter Thomas exclaimed. “Can we catch one?”

“No, the fish need to stay in the water to live,” Daddy said.

Just then a big, blue butterfly landed on the rocks between Ava Anne and Savannah Lynn. Momma had her camera ready and snapped a picture.

The family of five saw many more beautiful butterflies, and Momma snapped many more pictures. Without a doubt, everyone enjoyed the butterfly house. It was a magical first day of spring.