Ashevathallion: Butterfly and Dragon

"I want you to make me a dragon!"

Ashe looked up. A small red-haired human girlchild stood by the rock he had chosen to stretch out and nap on in the late Summer sun. Her arms were folded across her chest, her chin thrust up and her eyes defiant. Definitely her mother's child, this one.

"And why would you want to be a dragon, Arista?"

"Because then I'd be like Kylan. We're `trothed, you know."

Ashe nodded gravely. "Aye, so I had heard. But why would you wish to be a dragon? You are a lovely young lady!" He slid down off the rock, then sat down with his back against it to grin at his nephew's daughter. "You remind me of a story I heard... about a dragon and a butterfly. Would you like to hear it?"

"Yes!" She sat, chin in hand and waited. Her expression was so intently interested that Ashe had to look away before he laughed. He cleared his throat with a cough and began:

*******

"Long and long ago there a was butterfly who wanted to be a dragon. She would flit about the meadows all day until she saw a dragon fly by, or one stopped to rest, and then she would flit around it, flying as close as she dared, careful lest she be sucked into its great nose or be blown away on a blast of fire. One day, as she landed very carefully on the nose of a very grand looking young dragon, she suddenly felt like SHE was being watched. And she was, by the dragon!

"I wish I was a butterfly!" sighed the dragon. "Everyone loves butterflies."

"I'd like to be a dragon!" The butterfly whirled about the head of the dragon. "I could fly so HIGH! And everyone would know my name."

"Hmmph, I'd trade you in a flick of my tail, I would!' This excited the butterfly to no end, for it happened to know that a mighty wizard lived not very far away. An idea came to her mind, and flying perilously close to the dragon's ears, she whispered her plan.

The next morning, when the wizard went out early to fetch the falling stars he had caught in his nets, he found the pair lying on his doorstep. After much prodding and yelling, he got the dragon to move enough so he could squeeze out the front door and ask them what they wanted. And then he just stared. "Are you quite sure?", he asked. And when they said they both were, he nodded quietly "Very well. When you both wake up tomorrow, you will have switched bodies. And will stay switched, until you both ask for your old self back." He sprinkled some powder over and sent them on their way.

Sure enough the very next morning, they each woke up in the other's body. And at first, they were delighted. The dragon reveled in the freedom of being a butterfly, and the butterfly in turn was thrilled with how far and fast it could now fly. But after a few days, they weren't so happy. The dragon, for his part, was tired of trying to sleep hanging upside down from tree branches. And there were the swallows, always the swallows darting about looking for a meal. As for the butterfly, the cave was dark and dreary, and there were all those knights who came hunting for it. Life as a dragon was no bed of roses. Almost at the same time, the two headed back to the meadow.

The wizard was there, waiting.

They both flew there as quickly as they could. "Please, let us go back to our old bodies!" And with a wave of his hand, the wizard set things aright. Both the butterfly and the dragon were very relieved and happy to be back to what they were. For they now realized everyone had their own strong points, and also all sorts of problems to go along with them."

*******

"Then what?"

Ashe blinked. "Well... that's all... they learned their lesson and... "

"Nooooooo!" Arista shook her head emphatically. "The dragon married the butterfly, and they had children, and that's where dragonflies came from!"

"Er... well. They umm... remained good friends for the rest of their lives. How's that?"

She shook her head. "Butterflies don't live very long."

Ashe sighed. "Time is relative, child", he said as he got to his feet. "Would you like to go have some milk and cookies with me?" He held out his large hand, smiling as Arista's small one entwined with it, and they started back for the firehall.

"Uncle Ashe?"

"Yes, Arista?" Ashe braced himself for a question about how babies were born.

"Who is time a relative to? And you STILL didn't tell me why you won't make me a dragon!"

The woods rang with Ashe's laughter.