A Child and The Butterfly

"While bees are the better know pollinators, butterflies do their fair share.

Bees, being connected to the commercial growing of fruits and vegetables, are considered the most important. They pollinate in smaller areas and are very good at what they do.

Butterflies can travel longer distances, ensuring coverage of equal amounts of flowering plants in a larger area. " http://www.naplesnews.com/

A young child; a little boy, loved butterflies and one fine day, as fine days go, he asked his parents to buy him a butterfly net so that he could catch some and keep them in a jar.

On a fine sunny morning he woke up and after brushing his teeth, eating some breakfast which he hardly touched at all because he was too excited to try his new fancy butterfly net, ran excitedly out to his yard and patiently waited for the next butterfly to approach his mother's flower garden.

Soon he was excited to spy one beautiful golden wings and really nice looking butterfly. He stalked her like a lion stalks it prey. Swoosh! The butterfly was his..

No sooner had he caught his prize that he placed it in his favorite butterfly jar and brought it close to his face so that he could marvel at its beauty.

In an instant he was amazed and quite surprised when this lovely creature began speaking to him and our little boy realized that he did indeed have something special in the jar.

Soon our little boy was intently listening to our winged friend as it said. “Do not keep me trapped in your jar for I have a mission that nature in all her wisdom has entrusted of me. I have to visit many flowers and help them become new ones. Please let me go and I will show you the wonders of nature”.

Well as the story goes the little one listened to his new friend and released her but not without some hesitation for it was his prize and he felt that he would never see it again.

Soon and true to her word the butterfly took her new friend on a marvelous journey as he saw how gently the butterfly went from flower to flower and each time filled her tinny legs with pollen which she then rubbed off on other flowers.

The butterfly explained that by placing pollen from some flowers on other flowers, it allowed new seeds to form inside each and soon these flowers would release their seeds and in turn new flowers would be born. "Its all a big never ending circle which all creatures play", our winged friend said.

Our little boy was amazed by this new found knowledge and pledged never again to trap any other butterfly or any living thing for that matter for he had learned a valuable lesson. Every living thing has a purpose and every creature must be free to complete it for Nature in her wisdom created harmony and we need not interfere.

"Nature creates living things. They all are in this Earth to do something. We along with the bees and other insects pollinate flowers and trees. That in turn gives growth to more flowers, trees and even some of the fruits you eat.

So you see, not only do plants rely on us little creatures to grow, but in a way so do the people. It is up to you to ensure that we can continue on our mission for if we were to disappear, what would you do? Would you like it if there were no pretty flowers to look at or apples, strawberries, or oranges to eat?

You have made a wise decision to let me go. Now you must be an example to other little kids and teach them that we like to be admired but we also like to be left alone to do what Nature has intended us to do. Thanks my little friend!

So our little butterfly left fluttering in the wind to visit one flower after another and our little boy was pleased.

"All that from a little golden winged butterfly". "Wow!" Thought the child, my pretty golden winged butterfly is really smart, isn't she?"