Stories the Butterfly Told Me

7. End at the Beginning

Ten minutes till I have to be there. It is morning and I am on my way through the buzzing city - New York. The cars are honking; the shops are about to open. But all I can think of is him, of how I am finally about to meet him again after that horrible rainy night as he asked me to marry him and I ran off.

Now and then a bird's twitter is heard, but no one notice. Everyone is in a hurry. I can't help smiling at their foolishness, if only they knew what they are missing - how much life and beauty is around.

A woman in high heels carrying a briefcase is storming out of the coffee shop with a steamy cup of coffee. She bumps into a man, who is walking by. The scalding coffee is pouring down over both of them. While yelling at each other, they harass on.

A new day has started and I am soon going to see him again.

I remember the late night by the Seine, the first day I had met him in that little bookstore. I can almost feel the presence of the countless books as I recall stepping into the magical atmosphere of the place and how the music had brought me there.

I cross the street my mind with him in Paris and of how I can break the good news concerning my sickness to him; a peevish taxi driver toots at me. I sigh with a smile on my lips. No one enjoys the sun, which sends its' warm greetings to us all. Do they not see how beautiful a morning it is? Will he take me back?

A street salesman tries pertinaciously to sell a false Gucci bag at the corner of the street. The city teems with people. Everywhere voices are heard. A man in a suit is shouting into his phone. I move on through the crowd eager to get to him. Eager to see his eyes again, to see his curly hair, his wide smile. Five minutes left. As I reach Times Square, the traffic light switches and displays the red light, which signals you to stop.

My mind is still wandering about. But he agreed to come all the way over here - why would he tell me to leave him alone? The crowd around me do not care about the red light as they continuously push in between the waiting cars to cross the road and I follow along.

A black car with toned windows stops in the middle of the crossroads. A man climbs out of the car and I carelessly turn to get a better look off him my thoughts still in another world. He is wearing a long white garb, which yields him a lot of attention and I have never seen him before. Something is terribly wrong. I am forced out of my daydreaming as a nervous feeling is settling in me. I move on - away from the car and the man. As I turn one last time, I see the corner of the white garb disappear into the crowd. My eyes fall on a small little butterfly with orange wings. As if it tenses danger it flickers away, up in the air. Away from him. My heartbeat races and I panic. Aggressively I try pushing against the impervious wall of humans. Further back I hear piercing and despairing shouts.

Only now as I hear the bang do I realise, what he is, my very last thought flicker to him; Aaron with the curly hair and kind eyes.

I am blinded by a bright light but yet I have a smile on my lips as I open my eyes. Everything around me is chaos but I still have a strange calm feeling inside of me. I am alive, I realize as I lift myself from the pavement taking in the scene. 

All around me people are lying forced to the ground by the explosion. A rescue member is asking me if I am alright. I don't know how long I have been out. "No one died - it's a miracle," I hear from somewhere behind me. I raise my whole body not caring if it's sore, and then I start running to where I had to meet him. With only him in my thoughts the smile constantly growing. The light never truly leaving me.