The amazing metamorphosis of the

Butterfly-boy
by Nilza Amaral

Once upon a time on a Friday night a full

moon was shining brightly in the sky. It was so bright
a moon that the night was as clear as a sunny day.

That round silver ball in the sky, the hot night,

the silence, no single breeze, it seemed like magic in
the air.

At that magic moment a baby was born in a

hospital in Brazil.

He rests quietly in his little bed.

 Suddenly as the windows of the bedroom are
wide open a butterfly enters and gently rests on the
baby´s back and there it remains.

Doctors can not explain the fact. First they say

it could be a moon struck.

Then they decided to explain to the

disappointed baby´s parents that it was a nevus, the
scientific name of the spot.

They try to clean the nevus using several

resources. All the medicines are used. But the more
they try the more the spot stuck to the baby´s skin.

Finally they give it up and the butterfly

remains there beautiful and shining. ¨For good¨, think
the doctors.

A friend of the baby´s parents who is a poet

compares the spot with a fluttering flag for the variety
of colours in it.
 The baby is named after his father: Pedro.

As Pedro is getting older his back is covered

with a fine golden dust made up of millions of finely
ridged scales arranged in overlapping rows like a
rainbow of beautiful yellows, pinks, blues and reds.

Pedro is now a slender child and his thin body

looks like the antennae of a butterfly. His hair is black
like the grauna´s(1) wings, his skin is the colour of the
jambo(2) and his eyes are as greenish as the Brazilian
oceans. He is a very handsome young boy.

Pedro lives in a big city. São Paulo. Near his

house there is a big park - the Ibirapuera Park.

He is allowed to play in the park on Mondays,

because on the weekends the park is crowded and his
parents fear Pedro can suffer some kind of prejudice
for being marked with that butterfly on his back.
 Pedro goes to school. But he is forbidden to
play with the other children.

Soon he becomes a very lonely child. But not

unhappy.

Despite the butterfly on his back he goes on.

He knows everything about butterflies and

moths and the difference between them.

Some of the moths fold their wings at sunshine

and others open them to the sun.

As he cannot do the things the other children

uses to do, he spends his time looking up the animals,
the insects, in his dictionary, surfing in the computer
after the butterflies, trying to forget the nicknames he
is given: butterfly-boy, big-spot, all those cruel names
that the children choose to hurt him.
 One Monday as he is alone in the park he takes
his t-shirt off. At that moment the breeze that is
blowing gently turns into a huge tornado. The flowers
and leaves fall of the trees leaving a green carpet on
the ground.

Pedro is so frightened that he cannot take a

step to run away. Then the wind stops blowing, the
sun is in the sky again, the flowers come back to the
trees and Pedro hears a loud noise!

He looks up and and out of the blue a squadron

of butterflies starts flying around him! He is surprised
and bewildered at such a vision!

He sits on the green carpet of leaves to see

better the movement of the wings. And thinks how
good it may be to know how to fly!

Then the first miracle happens: the wings on

his back comes to life! They open up over him and
cover him with a tissue of colours. Pedro remains
under them in a a fetal position containing his anxiety.
He does not know what he is expecting. Then he
remembers that some kinds - the moths - fly only at
night.

When the silvery moon appears in the sky he

hears a voice coming from inside his body: tonight we
are going to get a ride over the country. And then he
feels the enormous wings open up taking him to
space.

Somebody looking at the sky on that night

would see an enormous butterfly going across the
moon. And would never suspect that the body of the
big insect was a boy named Pedro.

The wings fold a while over a big cloud.

Where are we going to? -- To a seminar of butterflies,
answered the voice from inside him.

--Why are you taking me there?

 Because we have decided to cut these wings
off your back. Actually you are neither a boy nor a
butterfly. When you were born one of us laid eggs on
your back. Now we have decided to fix things.

-- Ah, says Pedro, and how are you fixing

things ? Do you know what the doctors say about
that?

Doctors do not know all the things. Nature can

decide better.

At that moment Pedro stops talking. The sun is

rising beyond a wonderful rainbow. They are entering
Panatanal, with its beautiful scenery.

Time to sleep, says the inner voice. Now, I will

fold my wings but you may walk around. Saying this
the wings take him gently to the ground and remain
only on his back.
 Pedro is at Panatanal, a vast region in Brazil,
the sanctuary of all animals. It is an area of 140.000
kilometers, the weather is around 24` centigrade, there
are lots of rivers, the sunrise and sunset are wonderful
and animals are protected by law.

Pedro starts walking. Millions of lightning

bugs light the night. Shade trees called wooden-foot
are around him. He is hungry. Hummingbirds are
sucking honey from the Jati tree. He does the same.
Like a butterfly uncoils its tube to suck honey, he
uncoils his lips and sucks the sweet meal. One of the
birds, a tall one with a long neck asks him: What are
you doing here? Are you a moth or a butterfly?

-- I am just a boy, walking around to look for

some food.

--Indeed you are too thin, peeps the bird.

Come on, let´s go for a ride. The animals are kings
here. Nobody will hurt us. But tell me how have you
got that spot on your back? Are you half butterfly?

-- Nature was absent-minded the day I was

born. I am here tonight to give these wings back.

-- Hum... Very very funny croaked the bird.

Pedro goes onto the bird´s back. --Look down Pedro,
can you see the capybaras, the sariema, and that big
bird, the Tuiuiu ? They are beautiful aren´t they?

--Indeed they are, Pedro agrees solemnly

--By the way, Pedro you know my name?

-- Sure, you are a heron.

-- Incorrect, croaks the bird. I am a snow-

egret. --Oh, I´m so sorry... --Never mind . . nobody
knows these subtle differences.

Finally they land on the soft grass under the

wooden-foot Jati. The sun is setting far away in the
horizon. All the green in the forest is turning into
pink.

The snow-egret says to Pedro: -- Be careful of

moths, my butterfly-boy, they aren´t good company.
They cause enormous losses to plants, food and
forests, they are worms although they are so beautiful

-- Incorrect, says Pedro. You do not know the

differences.

-- Oh, no, there are no differences.

-- Incorrect, says Pedro again. -- The adult

moths, the millers, are harmless. What else? Books
say that birds are their great enemies!

-- Hum... very funny, mumbled the bird That´s

a jungle, you have to practice self-defence. Books don
´t know everything, my boy.
 -- So butterflies and moths have to survive don
´t they? asked Pedro.

-- Well, my butterfly-boy, I have to leave now,

but remember "Nature is wise". And the snow-egret
takes off.

As soon as night comes, the wings open up

again. Leaning under them Pedro can´t see thousands
of butterflies coming to the meeting. But he can hear
the noise of fluttering wings.

Pedro is going to see the second miracle of

Nature. A caterpillar is to become an adult. He is
about to see a metamorphosis: the grown caterpillar is
ready to turn into a pupa. As the old caterpillar skin
peels off there appears a naked pupa , a chrysalis or
cocoon. It is "an insect in the making" encased in a
tough and flexible shell. At that moment Pedro looks
up and can see thousands of caterpillars changing
their form. He is breathless at this sight. All the
insects' organs and tissues are breaking and turning
into a semiliquid. From this semiliquid the wings, legs
and other parts of the adult insect are been formed. A
marvelous change is taking place. Gradually the
wings are expanding and hardening.

Suddenly the spot on Pedro´s back becomes

the same liquid as that of the caterpillars. He feels wet
and cold. Very frightened, he can see in the water of
the moonlit lake nearby that his back white and clean.
His wings have gone.

In a few hours butterflies and moths are ready

to fly to live their span of life. And Pedro is ready to
live his own metamorphosis free from the spot which
had turned him into such a lonely boy. The second
miracle had taken place.

Suddenly a gentle breeze begins to whistle.

Pedro is frightened because he is alone. All the
butterflies have gone with the wind; he is away from
home and by now he is without his wings. In a certain
way he is disappointed. It is so good if you can fly, to
surf in the open space!

Then, out of the blue, a white bird appears. Its

neck is black and around it there are yellow and red
feathers. Pedro recognizes it -- it is the Tuiuiu.

-- Come along, my friend. I´ll take you home.

Hurry up. When the wind finishes blowing we must
be very far from here. You should stay away from
those caterpillars and bugs. Remember -- on a hot
night you have got your wings...

-- How do you know that ? asked Pedro.

-- Miracles, miracles..., peeps the bird. Pedro

is now sitting on the carpet of leaves at the Ibirapuera
park. He won´t forget that adventure.

But on Friday nights with a full moon,

someone looking at the sky will see an enormous
butterfly crossing the moon. Nobody will know, but
us, that it is Pedro going to Pantanal to a meeting of
butterflies.

That´s the third miracle.

The end

(1) Grauna - a black Brazilian Bird

(2) Jambo - a Brazilian fruit

Nilza Amaral, of Sao Paulo, Brazil, graciously

offered the Butterfly WebSite the opportunity to
publish this short story. Nilza has published many
novels and short stories in Portuguese in her home
country, and has been the winner of numerous awards.
Her novels are not yet available in English.

She is fully profiled at her personal website,

and in an interview at One Woman's Writing Retreat.