Preview for How to Make a Butterfly Fly
Today, we are going to learn how to make a butterfly fly! Butterflies are made to fly, and this one is no different from the rest. She begins her journey by munching her way out of an egg while still a little larva. Once in the world, she is very, very hungry. She eats all the milkweed leaves in the garden, never worrying about tomorrow. Munch, munch, munch. Soon, all her eating turns her into a caterpillar with bright yellow, white, and black colored stripes! She continues eating all day and all night: munch, munch, munch, until the caterpillar is very full and very tired from eating. This is when she creates a chrysalis in a sheltered part of the garden. Here, she sleeps inside upside down for many days in her pupal stage, where an incredible transformation occurs. Then, one day, the chrysalis shakes, and a beautiful butterfly breaks out!
She emerges from the chrysalis with long antennae, long legs, and compound eyes, and as she climbs out and clings to the sides of her open chrysalis, she stares in wonder at her delicate, bright, colorful orange and black wings. She is not an ordinary butterfly; she is Miss Monarch Butterfly! However, she is not ready to take flight because her wings are damp, soft, and folded against her body after having been inside the chrysalis for two weeks.
So, Miss Monarch Butterfly goes onto the top of a leaf to dry off her wings in the sun, where she dreams about flight with all the other butterflies in the sky. However, as she is warming up, the skies begin to turn dark, and it starts to thunder. Yet, she is not afraid. She keeps her eyes on the horizon and pushes off the milkweed. “I’m going to soar,” she thinks, gaining air above the garden.
She flies past the small pond next to the milkweeds and past the sunflowers against the wind, pushing her to the right and left. I can do this, she thinks to herself, never losing sight of the sunshine beyond the garden's border.
“Almost there!” She exclaims, not giving up.
Then, as she nears the garden's edge, there is a blast of wind followed by a very loud crack-a-boom!
“Oh, noooooo!”
The world goes pitch black momentarily, and she wakes up in midair, realizing I am falling… falling… falling! The world blurs around her as she flaps her wings, trying to resume flight. Suddenly… she feels herself crashing down into something tough, hard, and damp. She didn’t know she landed near the garden’s shed.
Recoiling, she stands up, looking at her surroundings. “Where am I?! What happened to me?!”
She exclaims. With wide eyes, she sees enormous vines and green shrubs rustling in the wind, a drizzle, and menacing gray clouds moving quickly through the sky.
“I must reassume my flight! But I cannot because of the storm, and my wings feel heavy!”
Then, as the storm begins to dwindle, she hears a gentle voice….
