When Love Calls

Chapter 22

"Butterflies are God's confetti, thrown upon the Earth in celebration of His love."  Author Unknown

"We all love butterflies for their beautiful, brightly-coloured wings, right?" I asked my classroom, which they all yelled different answers i loved seeing them so happy to learn. "But did you know that these beautiful flyers begin life as something completely different? As they grow, they undergo one seriously terrific transformation – a process known as “metamorphosis“."

"Miss Thornton what's Meatmorphosis mean?" Emily asked who had a hard time getting out that big world which made me chunkle at the young sweet girl.

"That's a great question, Emily. metamorphosis is a dramatic change that some animals and insects go through during their life cycles. The change is dramatic, and the baby stage looks very different from the adult stage.

It all starts when a female butterfly lays her eggs, usually on leaves or stems of plants. Inside these tiny eggs, caterpillars grow. Depending on the species, the eggs can vary in shape and texture – they can be round, oval or cylindrical, and smooth, bumpy or wrinkled. The time it takes for the eggs to hatch can also vary – in some species, they will hatch within a few weeks and in others they will only hatch once the weather is warm enough." I said showing them from a book that had pictures of the butterfly life cycle.

It all starts when a female butterfly lays her eggs, usually on leaves or stems of plants. Inside these tiny eggs, caterpillars grow. Depending on the species, the eggs can vary in shape and texture – they can be round, oval or cylindrical, and smooth, bumpy or wrinkled. The time it takes for the eggs to hatch can also vary – in some species, they will hatch within a few weeks and in others they will only hatch once the weather is wamr enough.

Once ready, the caterpillar leaves its egg home and enters the big outside world! And these little critters have one serious appetite – they actually eat their way out of the egg and immediately start chomping on the leaves of the host plant. During this stage, they shed their skin four or five times – as the caterpillar grows, its skin becomes too tight and splits open, revealing a new, larger skin underneath. A fully grown caterpillar can be over 100 times larger than when it emerged from its egg. Isn't that cool?!" 

"When does it become a butterfly? Jimmy asked very interested, "That's coming up, but there's one more step. Once fully grown, the caterpillar forms itself into a “pupa” (or chrysalis) – a kind of vessel in which the caterpillar changes into a butterfly. They usually do this on twigs or safe, hidden areas around the host plant. The “pupa” stage may last a few weeks to several months depending on the species. During this time, a hardened case forms around the pupa to protect it from predators and extreme weather conditions. And inside, the tissue, limbs and organs of the caterpillar transform. The result? A wonderful winged butterfly!

"Once the butterfly is ready to emerge, the case around the pupa splits open. But it’s not time for take off just yet, as the wings are at first wet, soft and wrinkled against its body. The butterfly waits for its wings to dry, and pumps a liquid called hemolymph into them so that they become big and strong. Once fit for flight, this brilliant bug then takes to the air in search for flowers to feed on and for other butterflies to mate with."  I smiled showing them a picture of a butterfly, "And that’s the cycle complete – and ready to start all over again!" I said closing the book to finish up the lesson.

"Butterflies are amazing!" Rosie said in awe of butterflies. "They definitely are!" I smiled at her, "So tomorrow we're gonna go caterpillar hunting and catch some and watch them go through their life cycles!" I smiled as the class got excited for tomorrow to come. "Settle down please. Your homework is due tomorrow as well so please bring that in. Class is dismissed."  I smiled as I watched the kids run to the door almost running into the Mountie that was walking in.

"Jack!" I smiled seeing my brother as he took off this hat, I quickly walked over to meet my brother. "What are you doing here? I smiled as we embraced in a hug. "Mountie business. But I had to come see my little sister." He smiled as we pulled apart. "Only by 8 minutes. Have you been into town to see Gabriel?" I asked grabbing my books from the desk and walking back over to him. "I haven't I figured I'd stop by here first." Jack told me which made me smile. "Shall I walk you into town?" Jack asked. "Yes, I have to talk to Grace." I told my brother who nodded his head.

"Jack its good to see you." Gabriel said as he meet us in the street, "You as well." Jack said as they shook hands. "How was school today miss Thornton?" Gabriel asked which made me smile. "Good we learned about Butterflies." I told him as I saw Grace walk by. "Grace! Wait there." I yelled out to her, "Jack how long will you be in town?" I asked him, "Probably a day or two." He told me, "Good. You're coming over for dinner and so aren't you. You boys be there at 5" I said looking over at Gabriel. "Now if you'll excuse me." I smiled as I ran over to Grace.

"Are you free tomorrow around noon?" I asked her as we walked over to the boardwalk to get out of the street. "I am actually. Why do you need help with something?" Grace asked, "Yes. I'm taking the kids out tomorrow to look for caterpillars and I really could use an extra hand." I told her explaining my plan for tomorrow. "Yeah sounds like fun I'd love to help." She smiled before she was called by ronny. "I'll let you get back. I'll see you tomorrow." I smiled before we parted ways.

5 rolled around and I put dinner on the table just as the door opened and laugher following it, I rolled my eyes and chuckled at the two man. "Dinners ready." I told them as they took off their jackets it was weird nit seeing them in uniform. "This is delicious sis, thank you." Jack said before taking another bite. "Thank you." I smiled at him it was good to see him.

Gabriel left a little bit ago he was tired of a long day of work so it was just Jack and I. We were catching up, it's been quite a few months since we've seen each other. "You look just like him." I said to Jack who was looking at a picture of our parents. Jack was a spitting image of our father, mom said right down to his smile. "And you look like both of them." Jack said with a smile, "You know for us being twins we don't look much alike." I said with a chuckle which made Jack laugh, "I suppose you're probably right." Jack said still laughing. "How's Hannah? You two seem so happy together." I smiled at my brother. "Shes wonderful!  Im actually thinking about getting a ring. She's the one, Adeline." Jack said with a smile thinking about the one hes loves. "You definitely should." I toldmy brother. "Its getting late Gabriel and I have a busy day ahead of us." Jack told me which I just nodded my head. "Goodnight, Jack. You and Gabriel better be safe with whatever your doing." I said hugging my brother Goodnight. "Goodnight, Adeline. Don't worry about us, we'll be fine." Jack smiled before heading out the door.

"Okay class don't go to far please. Now go find yourselves caterpillars!" I told them exactly as they all ran to find some. "So how are you and Gabriel doing?" Grace asked as we kept an eye on the children running around. "We're good. We've had our ups and downs but I feel like we're really starting to grow together and become a stronger couple." I told her with a huge smile just thinking about him. "I'm happy to hear that." Grace smiled. "Are you are you guys finding anything?" I yelled out to my class who al, held out their jars to show me they were getting somewhere.

"Now we wait and watch them grow! Please bring me your homework and then you are free to go. Class is dismissed." I told the children, they did as they were told and brought me their homework. Grace was getting her children around when I walked over to her, "Thank you for everything today I really couldn't of done it without you." I said Grace giving her a smile, "Oh of course! It was fun and the children really enjoyed it. You're a wonderful teacher, Adeline." She told me which made me smile. "And you are a wonderful friend." I told her, " I'll see you around." I smiled before going back to my desk to gather my things, I would have a very busy night grading papers and working on more school lessons for the next week ahead.