The white butterfly tango

Chapter III

The girl lied with her eyes open the whole night. She wasn't watching funny videos to make herself feel better and didn't even listen to music. Esma observed how the light from the street was appearing every time the car passed their house. That cat outside kept scratching the fence but the neighbors quickly made it run away with another loud scandal. The couple was arguing over some personal problems and the girl had no other choice but to listen to them. She kept thinking about everything that happened but felt like couldn't show that to anyone.

That was until morning light appeared in the window and she noticed the bright red sky that slowly turned into blueish ocean hiding behind the tower of factory smog again. The girl prepared herself for the day and headed downstairs just as heard her grandmother's quiet mumbling.

"You are early today. How did you sleep?" Gramms was preparing breakfast for both of them and Esma tried to do at least half of that homework that waited for her.

"I had a bad dream and woke up earlier, unable to sleep." The girl spoke up calmly while making a note into her textbook.

"A bad dream? What about?" The older woman glanced at her curiously after putting a cup of black coffee on the table beside the girl.

Esma didn't respond right away. She decided to lie and ask Gramms about her situation at the same time. "I had a dream where my whole body was covered with butterflies. They kept coming from different directions and I didn't know how to get rid of them."

"That childish imagination. Esma, butterflies don't attack people." Gramms chuckled while chopping the vegetables for the salad.

"I don't know. Seemed very real to me." Esma realized, the woman didn't know anything about that, so decided to change the topic, not to embarrass herself completely. "Have any plans for today?"

"Just the regular. I'll be late tonight, so you'd have to come up with the dinner yourself." The woman stated calmly and put two plates on the table sitting right in front of her.

"Okay. Will do, Gramms." The girl started her food and got lost in her own thoughts again. She was reading through the chapter but just couldn't get the topic.

"What are you preparing?" Gramms asked curiously, thinking the girl looked just like her father when concentrated on something. "Maybe I can help."

"It's literature. Says here: explain the title from the perspective of the "little person"." The girl read out and then also added: "Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka."

"Well... it's easy, my dear." Her grandma stated calmly and smiled while taking a bite from her food. "Think about why the book is called like that."

"It tells a story of Gregor Samsa who transformed into a gigantic insect...." Esma started explaining it to herself and took a curious look at her grandma who nodded her head, notifying her to continue. "He is a huge bug... I don't quite understand of why he is called "little"."

"Think of the character from a perspective of his family. What problems did he face in that transformation?" Gramms spoke up calmly and squinted her eyes while explaining.

"The family stopped caring about him as he became useless to them..." Esma finished her Gramms' thought and pulled her head up in disbelief. "The conventions of normal society are twisted because of our incompetence to look past the surface to the individual inside. He's little because is useless."

The woman kept smiling and then pointed to her plate. "Learning is good, but the young lady should also eat well."

The girl nodded sincerely and hid the textbook in her backpack. They exchanged a few more phrases and she rushed to the college building once again. This time with more confidence than before.