EMERGING STAR

I was out on our back porch sitting in my rocking chair, leaned forward with my elbows on my knees, patiently waiting for the Monarch butterfly to come out of its chrysalis. “You can do it!” I cheered it on.

My son Alex had walked out on the porch. “Who are you talking to?”

“My little friend here.” I pointed to the chrysalis on the back of our Adirondack chair. The day before it had been a shimmering light green but now it was almost black, which meant it was ready to emerge. “I’ve been waiting for the past hour and nothing was happening, but now…” I pointed again showing him the small wiggling that was happening “It’s going to be any moment now. I can feel it!” I couldn’t hold back the excitement I was feeling.

Alex came over and together we watched as the chrysalis split open and the monarch came out. “Oh my gosh, will you look at that!”

The Monarch was like a Transformer toy as it’s wings began to unfold and it struggled to hold onto the back of the chair.

“Careful little buddie!” I cried as I watched it struggle some more. It’s wings were wet and it needed to find a safe place to dry off before it could fly.

I scanned the porch. “I wonder where he can hunker down without drawing attention to himself.”

I looked over at my bird feeders, usually a happy sight for me when it was filled with entertaining birds but now, all I could see were potential predators to my new little friend.

I looked back at the butterfly as it staggered to the top of the chair stumbling around like a baby just learning to walk.

“He’s so beautiful.” I sighed as I leaned back in the chair. I looked over at Alex. “What are your plans for today?”

“I’ve got some work to do on my computer.” he shrugged his shoulders. “I’m at the end of a project so I’m just finishing a few things.”

I nodded my head.

“What are your plans for the rest of the day?”

I looked over at the butterfly then back at Alex with my head slightly tilted and my eyebrows arched. “Guess?”

Alex started to laugh. “How long do you think it will take him to dry off and fly away?”

I shook my head. “Who knows? But until he does he needs someone watching his back.”

Alex was still laughing as he walked over to the back door. “Exactly how it is in nature.”

“Hey! What can I say! When you come out of your chrysalis on my porch you get extra amenities! All right?” I looked back at my wobbly new friend. “No worries little man. You take your time.”