She had never seen anything like it. She had only ever dreamed of seeing one. Now, there it was, just a few feet away from her.
It was beautiful! More beautiful than she could ever have imagined.
It was also bigger, much bigger, than she had anticipated. Its wingspan was wider than her handspan.
Oh, she could watch it all day!
Reaching for her camera, she took photo after photo of the beautiful creature before her.
Almost as if it knew it was being photographed, it slowly folded its majestic wings so that she could enjoy the view of the detailed pattern on the underside. It was almost as pretty underneath as it was with its wings spread wide.
She knew the others were already trekking on ahead and that she’d need to hurry to catch up, but she needed a few more moments with this precious creature.
They’d been trekking through the forest all day and were due back at their hotel in under an hour. This was the first one of its kind that she’d seen. It might be the only one she’d ever see.
She heard footsteps and looked up to see the tour guide, Miguel, approaching.
“Ah, hermoso,” he sighed as he stood beside her and followed her gaze. “Mariposa.”
“It’s a boy?” she quizzed.
Miguel nodded, “Only the males are so blue. And its not really blue. Is a trick of the light… it reflects.”
He paused, struggling for the English words to use. She nodded and smiled.
With a graceful movement, the blue morpho butterfly flitted away.
She gazed wistfully at the leaf where it had been.
(images sourced via Google- credits to the owner)
Coral McCallum 