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The Last Butterfly
Dissent: Volume 6 of the Helter Skelter Anthology of New Writing

The Last Butterfly

The Last Butterfly, illustration by Ria Rajan
The Last Butterfly, illustration by Ria Rajan
Artwork by Ria Rajan

The butterfly did not think of herself as human at all. She thought that she was just meant to flutter around in her world and feast on the nectar from flowers. She had a tumultuous and arduous existence as a larva, which she thankfully had no memory of after her much needed shelter in the cocoon. She flew out into the world with a fresh pair of eyes, savouring every little thing around her with the curious eyes of a child. In her naivety, she did not realise that she was the last magical butterfly in the world; that she was special; that she was the only butterfly with all the colours of the rainbow splashed across her wings.

Soon after, she came across a young man who seemed to be extremely interested in her. He followed her everywhere and somehow managed to appear wherever she went. But he never seemed to make any advances towards her. Over time she began to like him, and kept an eye out for him while she fluttered around the garden. Sometimes when she sipped from the flowers, she would make sure that her wings were stretched out and displayed properly for him. One day, she flew over to his shoulder and rested on it. The early morning sun splashed on her wings and scattered in every direction, creating small rainbows every time she fluttered her wings. She could, for the first time, see the deep brown eyes of the young man and the glitter in them. She felt happy.

It was the last memory that she had before a huge net swooped down on her and scooped her up. The force of the action knocked her out. Later, when she was able to open her eyes for a moment, just for a moment, she could sense being placed on a hard surface. And then, a thin pin plunged into her throbbing heart, bursting it against her soft chest. A single drop of blood oozed out on to the pin.

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Praveen K Nair
Praveen is a writer/filmmaker based out of Chennai. An Express Award winner, he writes for various mediums: short films, graphic novels, features et al.
Ria Rajan
Ria is a designer, illustrator, matchbox collector, intrepid traveller, Interweb lover, and whatever else she can get away with. She currently lives and works in Bangalore, while needing ocean and mountain fixes periodically.
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