Faded Blue

• Danni Erickson, Grade 9
• Short Story
• 2010

I walked up the old wooden staircase. It creaked every time I took a step. The pictures on the wall were covered in dust. I blew the dust away to see a picture of a butterfly. It was the only colour in an otherwise dark and gloomy house. It really was beautiful, its bright blue wings resting on a healthy green leaf.
I continued up the stairs, trying to keep the creaks to a minimum. When at the top I followed the dark hall to a door that was open, ajar with rays of light flowing out.
When I pushed the door open I found a rusty old bed and an old fashioned makeup table. Sitting on the table was a glass jar and inside the jar was a butterfly, just like the one in the picture only its wings were a more warn out blue, almost grey.
It looked as if it was dying, as if it needed to be set free.
I grabbed the jar, careful not to nock around or hurt the precious creature stuck inside. I ran down the stairs and out the front door, slamming it behind me instinctively; chipped paint fell to the ground. I ran down the front steps into the calm but gloomy day. The dark grey sky caught my attention before I took off down the dirt path, with trees all around. The trees has no leaves, they looked like that had been burned so nothing would grow again. It made me feel sad, sad that this place was once a beautiful forest, filled with green plants and cheerful animals.
At the end of the path was a pond. It was deep, so deep that the water appeared black.
It wasn’t a very nice place to let the butterfly free, but it was better than being locked in a house with no colour, nothing to raise its spirit. At least out here the butterfly could live a long life.
As I opened the jar, the butterflies wings came to life. The lid came off and I watched as it flew onto my nose. Right before my eyes its wings changed from the faded blue to a bright blue like in the picture.
It flew from my nose and I watched in amazement as colour started to appear everywhere in the forest. Leaves started to grow on the old trees, the black water turned to a calm blue and the sun started to appear from behind the clouds. Within seconds the whole gloomy forest had transformed into something as beautiful at the butterfly.
I felt the warmth from the sun on my face, a feeling I hadn’t felt in a long time. The butterfly landed on my hand. It shocked me, the happiness had returned.