My mother held my hand as we walked through a forest. We had been walking contently until she stopped abruptly and pulled me to the side of the trail. In front of me was a tall oak. I suddenly saw what my mom had seen: a massive butterfly sat on one of the branches while it flapped its wings lazily. The wings had every color imaginable.

“It’s gorgeous,” I whispered.

“Have I ever told you the story of how butterflies came to be?” she asked me with a smile.

“No,” I breathed.

“Well it all started at the beginning-”

“The beginning? The beginning of what?”

“I was about to tell you. It all started at the beginning of earth, and with a young girl named Silva. Silva was ecstatic at being chosen as a guardian for a new planet. She was assigned to a lush green forest. Trees towered above her small form. She could hear the crash of a waterfall and the hiss of a river. The sky was a vibrant blue with huge fluffy white marshmallow clouds. The girl loved the green of the trees, the brown of the soft dirt, and the blue of the sky, but there were many colors she loved that were not here.

“The newly made guardian decided to start creating as she had been instructed. She made brightly colored flowers pop out of the ground and vines run along the trees. Silva laughed as she wove through the trees, making more plants grow. However, the guardian soon grew somber, finding her new found paradise to be lonely. She started to create many animals that roamed through her forest. After many years Silva made a creature with intelligence.”

“She can just give something intelligence? That doesn’t seem like a smart idea,” I said with a raised eyebrow. My mother just smiled and continued.

“She made the creature look like herself, but it was very small. Silva gave the creature wings with all the colors she could think of. Silva called her new creation a fairy. Silva called the young fairy Papillon, and they grew to be good friends. Silva made many more fairies that Papillon became the queen of. The queen soon fell in love, and the man she married became king.

“The forest spent hundreds of years in a cheerful state. The fairies were a peaceful people, and they loved their king and queen. They would dance and sing and tell stories and jokes, but Silva soon learned how quickly happiness could dissolve. The king fell seriously ill, and a plague struck that happy land. The kingdom grew very grim with the passing of the king, and not a week later Silva got news that made her head spin.”

“Oh no,” I gasped as I clasped a hand to my mouth. “Did Papillon get the plague?!”

“She did.” My mother said grimly. “The plague worked quickly, and the kingdom was without a monarch. Silva had lost a great friend, and she wept for Papillon. Her tears fell from the sky as the fairy kingdom was torn apart. The guardian was angered at the fairies selfish wars for the throne. Silva could think of only one solution to stop the forest from falling. She had given the fairies intelligence, and she could take it away.

“Her heart hurt more at the thought, but it was her duty to protect the forest. With a snap of her fingers she took their intelligence away. The forest was nearly turned to ash, and from the ashes rose the lovely butterfly. Many of them had brightly colored wings to remind Silva of Papillon and others were more dull to show her sadness for Papillon.”

“That was a sad story.” I huffed.

“Well, yes, and it holds truth. We often create our own problems or enemies, but we can always fix it and even create something better.”