Jewelled Butterfly

The hot air pressed around her. A curtain of heat and sound. The markets bubbled with voices and music, all strange to her her, unknown but not frightening. She flicked open her silk fan like a camera shutter, a trick she had been practicing religiously, and tried to flutter some fresh air onto her face. But the fan simply pushed yet more heat towards her. Her eyes passed over small shops, half their wares outside on trestle tables like market stalls, the other half crowded into the shaded depths of the shops. And on the side of the long, wide pathway, tables and stand-alone shelves crowded with goods to tempt the loose pursed tourists.

Her wondering eyes alighted on one such stall. Large painted fans were hooked onto a wire netting frame, traditional chinese style silk dresses hung from the shoulders of brokenly smiling dummies, their grinning faces chipped under the garish colours of their solid plastic hair. A table in the middle glittered and winked at her moving closer she found it was covered in jewelled hairclips. All silver and tarnished bronze in the shape of butterflies of winding, flowering plants as the fashion dictated. Her eyes trailed over them, drinking in their gaudy brightness. Cheap metals and coloured glass became finest silver and precious gems in the sparkling sunlight.

She picked one up, a silver butterfly with a pattern on its wings of winding vines with silver branches and mint green leaves and bright red gems like tiny flowers.

"Four dollars" said a voice behind her "very good price" she turned to find the source of the cheerful voice. Dark eyes grinned at her from under dark hair, she dug around in her bag for her purse. Make-up and loose change of several different currencies sifted through her searching fingers. His eyes followed her movements, a sweet smile playing on his lips 'he's laughing at me' she thought. She dropped four gold coins into his hand, one by one, each one making a bright clink as they fell. He offered a small paper bag to but the clip in but she refused it, instead clipping it around her ponytail. He held out his hands "no, no, here, like this" he unclipped the butterfly and put it aside onto the table. Talking her hair in his two hands he twisted it round and up the back of her head, clipping it into place with the glittering butterfly so that her hair fell from above it, tumbling like a waterfall "thankyou" she said before disappearing into the crowds again. He smiled at her as she left.