Fantastica

1: Death By Butterflies

TThis wasn't my fault. I swear I didn't know all this would unfold. I didn't know that I would have to watch someone die. And I didn't know how much I would change the world simply by one decision. Were the results good or bad in the end? Well, that's not my job to decide, now is it? That's up to you. So let's begin the story of how I accidentally knocked over a lot of dominoes.

A lot of modern fantasy protagonists start off by telling you that the world is bigger than you thought it was, that there is more to it than you thought. That is exactly what I'm not going to do. Everything in your world is very real, just as you know it. Your world is just as big as you thought it was, just as ordinary, just as beautiful or ugly as you choose to think it is. But your world is not my world. Not anymore.

I am not saying I'm not originally from Earth. I was born in Indianapolis, Indiana. I was an American once. Then one day, in a flash, I just wasn't. Sorry, I think I'm getting ahead of myself.

My name is Jewelia Seong and it started, on my end at least, with the decision to run away. Well, I use crutches so I don't know if it counted as "running" per se, but you get the picture.

Why was I running away? See, I was born with spina bifida (basically my spine didn't close all the way in the womb) which for me, means I have limited use of my legs. Others have no use at all and use wheelchairs, but I get by with just crutches with straps just below my elbows. For me, this was no big deal, this was how I'd always been. But even after all these years, my parents were still convinced I was a 'poor helpless cripple.' Ugh.

Don't get me wrong, I love my parents, really. But I hated how they saw me and how they treated me. They didn't let me go to public school, didn't let me go out by myself. They spoke over and for me and I was tired of it. We'd had an argument that day, about how I wanted to go to school instead of staying homeschooled. We probably both said things we regretted.

That night, I packed a bag. I didn't know where I was going, but right then, I didn't care. I just stuffed a bag and went.

Outside, it was dark, the only lights being street lamps and the moon. The only noise was my crutch tips on pavement.

I'd been going for a good 10 minutes when I saw something move out of the corner of my eye. It was a fluttering something. It seemed so innocuous at the time, especially when I first saw what it was.

A butterfly. Honest to god, a butterfly, fluttering under the light of a street lamp. And a purple one at that. I dismissed it, thinking on more important matters like what the heck I was actually going to do now that I had run away from home. The more I thought about it, the more I realized.

I was screwed.

I considered turning around. Really, part of me did. But that part of me was ignored by the braver part of me. Maybe I should have listened. Maybe it's better now that I didn't. I like to believe the latter. Either way, I kept going, not knowing quite what I was going to do or what was amassing just behind me.

What was it? An army. Well, of sorts. It was an army of small creatures. Very small creatures. Possibly the creatures one would least expect to form in such a way. Butterflies.

I didn't notice them for a while, 10-20 minutes at least. But when they made themselves known, they were unignorable. They blasted forward around me in a kaleidoscope, wings shining. You think, 'Oh, butterflies, so beautiful. That must have been a wonderful sight. You're so lucky to have seen them.'

No. Just no. See, as they flew around me, some brushed against my arms and legs. And where they did that, clean little red slices appeared.

This was slightly alarming.