Tale of the Monarch Butterfly

Prologue

10 years ago~~

"The world is so beautiful."

Ten-year-old Autumn said to herself while gazing beyond their car's window. She beholds the colors that are bold and homely; strong, and yet a call to remember our Earth and all she gives in the months of harvest. She could let her eyes soak in those scarlet, maple-hands, and the golden leaves that create more beauty than she'd ever dare ask for. It is the season of inner calm and a kindly stoicism etched in memories of joy. It was the season of autumn.

As music filled Autumn's ears through the radio which her mom had turned on, she decided to put down the windows as they take the gray path, adorned with weathered cracks where new soil gathered, enough to tempt seeds to grow. There is no paint left in it, but then there are not much cars either. Amid the infinitely greened hills, the road stretches onward, hugging the land, taking each turn with easy strides.

Autumn sucked in the air as if nothing had ever been so sweet, as the cool autumn air drifted in through the open window.

She glances back at the main road, while her mother is making a safe turn to a scarred and potholed concrete road, urging her to clench both of her hands onto the seatbelt.

"Mama, how long till we get to Nana's house?" Autumn asks as excitement poured out on her like sunshine through fine white linen.

"Sweetie, that's your 26th time asking that same question," her mom chuckles in delight while taking another turn. "Grandma's house is near the foot of that mountain," Mama said while pointing her hand towards a big mountain covered by thousands of trees in orange-golden hues, creating a wonderful picturesque view.

Little Autumn gaped in astonishment. "That's so big, mama!" she replied as the exhilaration in her system grew bigger, thinking there's a lot more to discover on her short autumn break.

After a lot of twisted, muddy turns, hands stroking the wheel, and the nearly soundless changing of the gears, they finally arrived in front of her grandma's house.

There stood a casual and higgledy-piggledy agglomeration of the traditional Japanese house. Even though you can tell it's already obsolete, its strongly built structure emphasizes that it survived through all seasons that passed.

The first thing she notices is the wide engawa, also called a veranda. If her memory serves her right, engawa is the outer corridor that wraps around a traditional Japanese house. Even from afar, Autumn's little eyes caught how the wooden floors gleam and shout its astounding cleanness.

Not so long as she shifted her gaze to her Nana that is in her kimono, designed of chrysanthemum flowers. And there she was, her Nana, loud and beautiful, laughing as if she were a child. Her wrinkles, the map of her soul, made all the more intricate by the sweet paths she'd danced since her birth. She always felt that it was who she truly was, that joy, that sound that tickled everyone else on the insides until they smiled wide and true.

"Audie!" calls her Nana while little Autumn expeditiously ran the distance between them with her big smile plastered over her lovely face. Only her grandma Mitsuko, calls her that way.

Hugs could never be long enough for Autumn. In her Nana's arms, she felt home. In that embrace, she was cocooned well than any butterfly-to-be as she felt her soft skin and the gentle squeeze on her own. Autumn bathed in her warmth and the smell of freshly laundered clothes.

"I'm happy seeing you two," Nana said while breaking their long, tight hug. As far as she can remember, Nana is already 87 years old. She was getting older, the minutes aging her body faster than her own and that made her feel sad deep inside. But she will make the most of her 7-day autumn break to make a lot of things with her; to weave their own memories.