Once upon a time, in the faraway land of Oklahoma, there lived a butterfly. Not an Emperor butterfly, or a Monarch butterfly, or any sort of noble butterfly, but merely your average, run-of-the-mill, small butterfly with pale yellow wings. Anyway, this butterfly was named Georgie. Georgie-Porgie, to be exact. Georgie’s mother would have lost a debate with a doorknob, and she thought that Georgie-Porgie was a pretty name. Georgie didn’t, however, and he wanted to drop the last half. But when he asked the Mayor how to change it, he was told that once a name was entered into the legal records, it was impossible to be altered.

But Georgie didn’t believe that. He had heard that the Wizard of Oz could grant any wish, and so he decided to fly over a rainbow and find the Wizard. His mother packed him a box lunch of nectar-rich flowers to eat on his way, so bundle in wing, Georgie set off.

First Georgie had to find a rainbow, of course, so he began to search the woods for peaceful meadows filled with clover and sweet grass. He figured that this was the best way to find a leprechaun and his pot of gold that would magnetically attract a rainbow. But Georgie had never been so far away from garden, however, and he quickly got lost. Unbeknownst to him, the fifth or sixth meadow he strayed into was actually a ghetto where the criminal wildlife hung out. Almost immediately after setting wing in that clearing, he was mugged by a Gangsta Bunna! The Gangsta Bunna beat the ever living daylights out of poor Georgie and stole his valuable flowers.

As Georgie lay at the edge of the ghetto, feebly fluttering the tattered remains of his broken wings, he thought he was going to die. But much to his surprise, a Volunteer Worker found him! The Volunteer Worker tenderly carried Georgie to a nearby animal shelter and brought him into the vet’s office. The vet took one look and declared that his wings were shredded beyond repair. So the Volunteer Worker filled a tiny bottle with Red Bull ™ and carefully dripped the magical fluid into Georgie’s mouth. Immediately, he was given wings!

Georgie was very thankful to the Volunteer Worker and the veterinarian for their help. They welcomed him, but assured him that he needed to stay overnight to prevent a relapse. Georgie agreed, but changed his mind after they left him alone in the kennels. The other animals were much less than friendly, baring their teeth and growling at the intruder. One puppy snapped his jaws and lunged at the tiny butterfly! Georgie frantically fluttered around the concrete room while the puppy chased him. He finally found a cracked window and slipped through it. He flew around in a panic before eventually calming down enough to land on a branch and catch his breath. But just a few seconds later, he heard a twig snap. He whirled around and looked up…and up…and up…into the face of a hungry kitten! Georgie squeaked, and as the kitten pounced, he fell off the branch.

Thankfully, Georgie landed on a window sill less than a moment later. After quickly checking for violent or carnivorous animals, he relaxed and decided to stay put while he tried to figure out the best way to find a rainbow. The thought of giving up and going home occurred to him, but he was determined to change his name, even if his quest killed him. As Georgie let the tension flow out of him and regathered his thoughts, he heard a little girl’s voice. He twisted around to see through the window, and caught sight of a pink, fluffy bedroom. Whoever had decorated it had apparently been under the impression that lace and flowers were absolutely essential in order to properly raise a girl. Kneeling in front of the canopied bed was the owner of the tiny voice he had heard. As he listened, he heard her asking God very sincerely for a snow day. Immediately, snow poured from the sky, covering the yard and window sill with freezing white.

As Georgie struggled weakly against the invasive cold, he saw the little girl press her nose against the frosted window and then clap her hands in delight. She ran off singing delightedly. Turning his head the other way, he saw the puppy and the kitten frolicking merrily in the yard, tumbling over each other and batting at falling snowflakes. The Volunteer Worker and the shelter’s vet were there as well, supervising the animals’ play and talking cheerily to each other. As Georgie lifted his head a little higher, he noticed his old friend the Gangsta Bunna. The Gangsta was presenting Georgie’s bundle of delicious flowers to a Ho Bunna. The Ho sniffed them gingerly before accepting both the flowers and the Gangsta’s arm. They strolled off together, the Gangsta’s paw already entangling itself in her soft fur. Georgie cursed the futility of existence and his own short, unhappy life before his vision faded and he slowly succumbed to the inevitable cold.

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My friend read one of my poems, and decided that it was too dark and depressive. So she gave me a list of happy things to write about:

(1) puppies

(2) butterflies

(3) rainbows

(4) kittens

(5) volunteer work

(6) bunnies

(7) flowers

(8) snow days.

Being the stubborn and morbid person that I am, I wrote this for her