Chapter 3: Almost Caught!
“Wait a little longer...” Clementine didn’t like waiting but Mum always said it was good manners to wait your turn. Everything seemed to always take so long though... Like Dad getting back from gathering food for the winter; like her wings growing.
At least she had finally gotten the crystal pendant she had been waiting for, for so long, which was now sparkling in the bright morning sun.
Suddenly, she heard a loud screech and saw a black shadow in front of her, sending chilling fear throughout her little body. Oh no!
It was that horrid black eagle again: the dreadful and greedy caterpillar-eater! No-one could ever escape him or out-run him... Clementine was terrified when she realised he was determined to make her his next meal!
How had he seen her? She was so careful to stay under the shadow of the bigger leaves and along the lush greenway that camouflaged her pretty green birthday dress... from way up there, it would have been impossible for him to have seen her.
As she turned to look up at the black eagle, a sparkle from the crystal pendant caught the corner of her eye. And he had seen it too... that’s how he had picked her out through the bushes and that’s how he was going to catch her.
Clementine felt fearfully hopeless and so disappointed that the one thing she wanted so dearly had gotten her into such a dangerous situation. “Oh Daddy!! Where are you now???”
Clementine held on tightly to the crystal to hide it from the sun’s bright rays and ran as fast as she could. She had to hide from the black eagle.
She could hear the rapid flapping of his strong wings and his loud shriek was more like an evil laugh. But then, everything just went quiet. Too quiet...
Oh no! Ellie said that when eagles keep quiet, it means they are flying low and sneakily to catch you. This was not good, not good at all!
Clementine stopped running and listened intently for the eagle, though the pounding of her frightened heart rang loud in her ears. And then she saw the shadow pass over her, big and dark!
She spun around and saw the black eagle flying straight at her with his sharp claws wide open to grab her.
With barely seconds to think, Clementine lunged into the nearest bush of undergrowth, the tip of his claw ripping the skirt of her new birthday dress.
As she literally rose in the air, she heard a loud thud and a scream of frustration and pain... the eagle had flown straight into the tree!
Clementine didn’t dare lie in the undergrowth any longer, and she certainly wasn’t going to be a brave hero to look around again for the black eagle. Instead, she sprung up and held up her torn dress so that she could run as fast and quietly as she could.
She stayed under the darkest and bushiest leaves so that the sun’s rays wouldn’t catch her crystal pendant again.
She ran and ran and ran; thorny stems and sharp stones scraping at her delicate legs and body all along. Her tummy ached and her heart pounded so hard... eventually her little legs couldn’t run any more.
Clementine collapsed into a spongy bed of mushrooms and after calming her frantic breathing, she started crying hysterically.
Chapter 4: LOST!
Poor Clementine! This was not how she wanted her birthday to be... it was the total opposite and ghastly horrible! Her butterfly wings hadn’t grown, the hideous black eagle tried to catch her and now she was lost in this scary and dark forest.
There were new, strange noises all around her and Clementine was shivering and hungry. She held on tightly to her crystal and thought of her sweet and beautiful Mum.
Oh, how she wished to be back home in her warm bed, savouring the aroma of the delicious dinner Mum would have been preparing, especially for her birthday!
Clementine realised that this day had officially made her a year older, so it meant that she was somewhat “grown-up”. This was now the defining moment that would prove just how “grown-up” she could be, and she sat up on a mushroom to think of a plan to get home.
Firstly though, she had to quieten the grumbling of her empty tummy and find a warm and safe place to spend the night. Wiping away the tears, she crept out from under the mushrooms and sought the closest leaves.
Undergrowth foliage was generally sweeter than most leaves but these ones here in the forest were the best she ever tasted! Clementine just ate and ate – she was famished – and lazed back on the soft mushroom top, for a moment forgetting where she was.
A chilling breeze signifying the pending evening twitched her into awareness of her surroundings and she cautiously explored the tree above for the most comfortable yet safest place to call her bed for the night.
Finally, she settled on a smooth branch that was wide enough for her to lie on and inconspicuous from any prey above. It was extremely cold even higher up here in the tree amongst the mature density of leaves, so Clementine spun a thick blanket of silk around her and very soon she was sound asleep, exhausted from the eventful day.
Chapter 5: Could it be...?
Something bright was shining on her face, but it wasn’t the sun. Rather, it was something sparkly, something colourful, something... that was not a tear-drop crystal. Rather, it was a water droplet on the tip of the leaf above her.
As her mind registered that she was alone in this vast forest and not in her bed like the morning before, Clementine sadly pushed away the silk blanket. She had slept throughout the entire night but her body felt heavy and very different, and she struggled to stand up onto her four legs.
SIX LEGS! Oh no, no, no, no, NO! Whatever had happened to her? Clementine was frantic and the weight on her back didn’t alleviate the panic attack she was about to have.
Her eyes darted around and above for evidence of a caterpillar-eating creature and every angle sent chills down her spine. She was turning around and around and around but there was no sign or trail left by the hideous enemy.
Then she looked down... and her feet were way, way above the branch!!
Clementine screamed... and fell like a lightning bolt all the way to the bottom of the tree, the mushrooms below valiantly breaking her fall once again.
This was all too much for poor little Clementine! She felt hot tears welling up in her eyes and she rolled over to soak her tears of sadness once again into the spongy mushroom.
Only this mushroom was a beautiful pattern of blue and black, with a feathery surface that glistened in the morning rays. It was very much like Mum’s... wings...
Clementine studied the pretty blue wing and slowly traced the lines of the patterns and colours before her. Suddenly her shoulders felt all tingly.
Was she dreaming?
She gently touched the wing again, and again, her shoulders tingled. She slowly stood up and gently moved her shoulder muscles: the wings opened to their full size on either side of her. Then she moved the muscles down her back, and the wings flapped!!
Oh, it was magnificent! Sparkling blues and glistening turquoises; shiny black detail and subtle pinks in-between. Clementine had finally grown her own butterfly wings!!
She was so excited!! She spread her wings open and reached her hands to her back, so that she could feel the soft skin of the wings. It felt just like Mum’s.
Slowly, she flapped her wings to see them move – they were so pretty!! And then faster and faster until Clementine felt herself being lifted off the mushroom.
How wonderful it was to fly! Clementine had finally turned into a beautiful blue butterfly – what a precious birthday gift! She flew around the flowers and leaves, up and down, around and under branches, bobbing in and out of the sunlight. She was so happy, so relieved. Now she could fly back home, back to Mum, Dad and Ellie.
She stopped to have a drink of water and admired her reflection in the gentle ripples of the little pond. Her wings were very pretty, just like Mum! How she missed Mum’s honey pancakes! She was so hungry!
She quickly ate and gathered a few more leaves for her first journey as a butterfly. Then she flew as high as she could over the tree tops and looked around.
Far away, she could see red roofs and white smoke coming from the chimneys. It was her hometown and there was her house!!