"What do I do now?"

Charmaine, now that she was fully alert, was surprised at how she could communicate with the rest of the butterflies. She had always assumed that telepathy was a futuristic impossibility, invented by sci-fi filmmakers and authors. But now, she was experiencing it first-hand.

In a matter of minutes, Charmaine had figured out how to communicate, and even how to move her giant black and orange wings. She wasn't quite sure, however, about the flying part.

"Climb up on the rim," directed one of the butterflies. She seemed to be the leader of the pack—or kaleidoscope—of butterflies.

Charmaine somehow managed to get to the rim. It was almost like a big jump, yet she felt immensely light.

"Now," the voice continued, "you need to get the feel of your wings."

She flapped her wings slightly, back and forth. As much as she tried to imagine these wings carrying her freely through the air, she couldn't. "I'm just too weak," she said.

"No, you're not. Just take off. Your wings will carry you. Wait and see."

Charmaine took one deep breath and lept through the opening before she could overthink the move. For one dreadful moment, she felt as though she was falling. Panic filled her, but she quickly pushed it away as she remembered the butterfly's words. It almost sounded like something her own mother would say. She would always encourage Charmaine even if there seemed to be no hope left. Had she been here during this whole situation, surely she would have given her daughter courage. She would have told her to fly.

Regaining her courage, she flapped her wings.

True to the butterfly's word, she was now lightly soaring. All her fear of being unable to fly vanished as she easily fluttered her wings.

It didn't even seem to require any strength at all.

"Yes, darling! Yes! Now follow us," said the guide butterfly's voice gently. With that, the butterflies soared ahead of her.

With a smiling conscience, Charmaine followed them. She concentrated on the carefree feeling of nothing but air surrounding her body. She glanced back at her wings, admiring the black outlines filled with such a cheery orange color. White spots were sprinkled across the edges of her wings.

Her train of thought changed when she suddenly realized nothing hurt. Now, she wasn't entirely sure whether she had a heart or not as a butterfly, but even if she did, it didn't hurt. She had been soaring rapidly through the air, free of pain, for a quarter of an hour. To her amazement, she couldn't sense her breathing accelerating. She felt wonderful, and fully alive.

For the first time in her lifetime, she truly felt free.

After contemplating her new incarnation for quite a while, Charmaine remembered something. "Could we go this direction, and visit the clearing over there?" She asked.

"Of course, darling. Actually, many of our kind live there." As this voice resounded in Charmaine's mind, a butterfly came flying alongside her. She smiled at her, knowing that this butterfly was likely the one speaking who had been speaking to her and guiding her all along.

"Can I ask you what your name is?" Charmaine asked the guide.

"My butterfly name is Lucina," replied the butterfly.

A few minutes later, they reached the clearing. Charmaine descended, landing graciously on her thin legs. She walked over to the side of the bush, where she had been lying right after the earthquake. Where she had spent some of her last hours as a human.

She anxiously searched for the fallen cocoon. At last, her eyes caught sight of it. To her dismay, it looked withered. Faded. Cracked. Maybe even dead.

The other butterflies came to her at the sight of her bowed face. Lucina followed Charmaine's gaze to see what she was gazing at.

"Oh, do not be sorrowful, my child."

Charmaine shook her head as she continued to look at the cocoon through blurred eyes. "I promised. I promised I would take care of it." She awkwardly fell to her butterfly knees next to the bush."I failed."