And the little girl just wanted a place, a safe place, to rest, to sleep. And so she found the cave with some other little girls and they found warmth there, in the solace of the secrecy of the spot, in the heat from the fire in the center, the Creator’s fire, which melted the salve that they soothed one another’s faces with. She would wrap herself in her blanket with one of the other little girls and stare into the fire… or sleep, safe and sound.
And yet… there were days that the cave was too confining and she ventured out onto the sand of the nearby beach and dancing and jumping up and down in her sunsuit with the criss-cross straps in the back and the ruffles on her bottom, she would flit along the edge of the water, daring it to kiss her feet… screaming with delight when it caught her… and running away, falling down on her blanket and digging her toes in the delicious soft sand…
And yet… her joy still made her all the more curious… when she noticed a forest on the edge of the beach and couldn’t contain her wonder at what it held for her. As she stepped into the darkness of the forest, she was afraid, yet would not turn back, for the Creator’s hand was there for the taking and she knew she would be safe in her journey through the trees… many times, she gave out and He carried her, many times she thought she should just go back to the cave… and He let her just sit and decide and still was there when she resumed her journey.
At last, there it was… she could see the glow from the dark forest… the meadow beyond and she ran to meet it. How beautiful it was! Soft grass with flowers everywhere as she ran through… laughing at the birds that seemed happy to see her… and the butterflies were everywhere visiting their blooms, yet dancing around her head, leading her on… she couldn’t stop until she came to the far side of the meadow… another grove of trees… this one was different though… it was full of light… beaming through the limbs and leaves…. Leaves that as she stood and looked up quivered in the breeze…
The little girl took a deep breath… and felt a peace she had never known… why this felt safer yet than her cave… even if she was alone… how she wanted to tell the other little girls about what she had found. A calm pool lay nearby and she peered in and noticed with shock that it was a woman who stared back at her… how could this be?… when did it happen? She turned as she heard a sound…
Those quivering, shivering leaves began to rain down on her and as she raised her arms to meet them and smiled, she realized that she was not alone… others had come here before her… and like her had gone into the darkness only to come out in beauty, in freedom… the butterflies …. And she knew that the journey had been worth it… all the darkness, the fears, the hiding was necessary. For it brought her here and, like those welcoming her to the grove, now she too is free to fly.
