“There are days when I think I don’t believe anymore. When I think I’ve grown too old for miracles. And that’s right when another seems to happen.”
Dana Reinhardt, The Summer I Learned to Fly
February wore me down. The lower maisonette of the house I live in is being demolished as far as possible and the new owners overlooked that someone (me) lives upstairs, so my home has filled with dust and the sound of destruction over the last two months… giving me blurred vision and crippling headaches.
My G.P. said I’d had developed an allergy and gave me tablets and a steroid spray which smells of hyacinths. Is this a smack in the teeth to you hay-fever sufferers?
Anyway – there is a point to all this complaining. In desperate need of rest and recuperation, I also needed to get back on track with my projects for 2012 and was falling ever further behind. Tearful and at my wit’s end, I escaped to Kingston, which you may know has heart-chakra energies.
And there, at the offices of Community-upon-Thames, I met a girl who asked if I would like to hear her BUTTERFLY STORY. Of course I did – the very thought of a butterfly story lifted my droopy inner wings!
My storyteller’s name is VITA which means “life.” “As in dolce vita” she told me, then said
“This is a true story:
A beautiful story of a Butterfly called “May”
It was spring in the beginning of May. It happened 5 years ago. I remember that time, so well because I had a Home-Butterfly that year.
The Butterfly Fair was held in Riga for 2 weeks. It was in a huge tent, (near a shopping center) which was decorated as a tropical forest inside, so people could walk around and choose their favourite butterflies. At the fair, they told us that Butterflies are not simply “cute” little things, but they are way more than just “cuties”. Each butterfly has a character, which can only be seen if we take a good care of our Butterfly.
I wanted to have a Butterfly, which would take my breath away, so I had to look for a special one.
We called it May because we bought our Butterfly in May, so “her” name was May. Besides she has such colours on “her” wings so I was sure that I have chosen the right name. May reminded me of a warm and sunny time in May. May had red stripes ( which reminded me of a fire flames ), a few yellow spots ( which looked like a sun ) and orange colour, which was the dominant colour. We do have different Butterflies flying around, especially in summer around our summerhouse, but May was a bigger size than a usual Butterfly and also her coloured-wings were absolutely amazing and I have never seen such a butterfly ever again.
Our Butterfly lived with at our home with my family. May could easily fly to any room. We had to regularly feed May ( once a day every day ). We also left a special lamp on every night ( for the right and warm temperature ), so May wouldn’t get cold at nights and in the morning we could see her near that warm lamp. May also had her favourite flower in my room where “she” spent most of the time during the day. I believe that it remind her of her tropical home.
We did not open our windows too wide for a while, so May wouldn’t fly away. However, I believe that she wouldn’t anyway because she know how loved she was in my family.
She was with us for nearly 4 months which is a long time for a Butterfly to live. May was so special to us. We were all sad when she had gone and “she” will always stay in my heart.
Sometimes I see May in my dreams. I believe that she comes into my dreams because she still remains in my heart and I remember each day of her life so well. At times when I have to make an important decision and I am in doubts, May come to me in my dreams and it felt as she helped me to figure out the right way. Next morning I have a good feeling about making the right choice”.
Story, as told by Vita Tocilovska 2012
I asked Vita for details of the fair, thinking it would be amazing to see for myself.
She told me that the fair had never been seen again.
And who knows if it ever really existed beyond that moment in time when it purveyed its extraordinary pet butterflies to this young woman called Vita who gave me this gift of Butterfly Fare, a reminder that magic is all around us and sometimes, you don’t even need to look to find it, just be willing to see it when it appears.
Love
Lubna
With thanks to Vita
Vita Tocilovska is currently studying Media & Culture at Roehampton University. She loves reading, painting and meeting new people and is involved with several Animal Protection Societies. She says ” I am always ready to face new challenges and I listen to my heart carefully because, even though the heart is on the left, it is still always right!”
