Transformation

Butterfly

The cool wind blew across the lawn and hit the base of the door step sweeping up dust and leaves as it blew. Inside; My mother could be found hard at work cleaning for the huge party she was going to be throwing that chilly autumn evening night. It was Halloween and my mother loved to make holidays special for us girls after my father had left. My mother was a single hard working all American gal, pretty on the eyes and a beauty queen of her day. My mother met my father through her sister, strangely enough my father dated my aunt for a while and fell in love with my mother. They were wed in their late twenties and their relationship was always rocky. My father, with dashing good looks, stood about 6 foot two inches tall, had a dark dreamy complexion and athletic build that drew my mother to him like a moth Enchanted by the mysterious glow of a porch light on a summers night. My father being very shallow and full of himself married my mother in a fleeting moment, but left his options open if you get the gist. My mother tried so hard to please my father to make things work. Repeatedly he would get caught up in the pleasures of loose women. Falling into the arms of what ever broken woman glanced at him. My father had something broken in him to, something my mother never understood. She loved him unconditionally and wanted to make their marriage work, sadly that was not an option for dear old dad, he wanted out. Papers were filed and my mother was left alone to raise my sister and I on her own.
She never complained. But always tried to make it seem as though life was still so robust and enjoyable even though she struggled financially on a more consistent basis now that my father was gone. He paid child support for a few months which eased the weight of the financial burden for my mother. But just like their marriage the child support stopped and my mother was left with a 2 and 3 year old to raise on her own. She made the most of what we had, even though it wasn't much. Creativity flowed through her like a river; ideas, songs, recipes, games her mind was like a never ending chasm of possibility. My childhood was full of amazing memories thanks to my mothers creativity.

This specific Halloween she made me the most beautiful costume I had ever seen, my little eyes glistened as I put my tiny nimble fingers over the perfectly placed jewels she has glued onto a purple shirt. Attached to the shirt was a set of wings. Made out of wire and tule, then dusted in the perfect amount of multi colored glitter for added, wow factor. I put my costume on and she painted my face to match my "butterfly masterpiece." Applying the make up with such delicacy; she smiles as if nothing brought her more joy than to help me; as she dabbed some glitter all around my little head to finish her work. To top it off she gave me a head band that has two black pipe cleaners on it to form the entenas of my butterfly costume. I was ready!
     This was the first party I could remember and I was exited to be dressed so extravagantly. My sister, dressed as another insect the mighty bumble bee, danced beside me, as we help my mother finish with the party preparations. We filled a large tin tub with water and added about 20 or so beautifully red and yellow colored apples to the shallow pool. The apples bounced around in the water as if to signal to me they were ready for the party festivities to begin. Soon our guests begin to arrive and the festivities commenced. Cupcakes were on the menu that evening iced with Halloween inspired colors and sugary sprinkles. My family comes from a long line of bakers so baked goods in our house are no joke. We laughed and played games with our guests entertaining the evening away.
I even tried my hand at bobbing for apples! My sister came up to me, wet faced with her make up smugged running down her cheeks and told me how exciting a tub of water and some loose floating apples can be. I decided to try my hand at the game and knelt down by the tin troff and placed my hands behind my back, locking my hands in place I lower my face down to the bowl and zone in on the perfect apple. I take a deep breath and dive into the water bowl as if I was a horse who had been without a meal in over a week. I chomp down on the Apple but it slips the grip of my front teeth and goes flailing a few inches forward. Running out of breath I come up for air and take a deep breath then make the plunge again into the water after the apple. This time my attempt was successful! I come up out of the water with my prize latched between my top and bottom jaw. I take a few satisfying bites of my apple savoring the sweet delicate flavor of the apple as well as my victory, then go back to mingling with some fiends making small talk.

Closer to the end of the evening our guests begin to say goodbye and we clean up the house. We walk them to the door and thank them for stoping by. After the party mother told us we had to help he pick up. We go around the kitchen and pick up the half eaten cup cakes from various places left by excited kids dressed as mummies and furry creatures. We throw out the water from our Apple excursion and pack up the pin the tail on the donkey. Mother makes us hop in the bath before we run off to bed. She makes sure we get the make up off of our little faces then escorts us to our beds. Me, being scared of the dark ask to sleep in her room and she as always replied with an "of course my dear" I ran into her room and squirmed under the covers to get comfortable. Mother turns off the lights, darkness surrounds us. I feel comforted by the fact I know she is there with me, to ward off any scary boogie monsters. "Good night Mom" "good night dear baby"