Solace was generally a sad, discouraged, and depressed butterfly, unlike all her friends and family. She understood how incredibly short her life was and believed it would end with little fulfillment beyond the continuation of her species. Solace saw further and understood more than a typical butterfly because she had perspective. Her parents had died before her birth, so she could really only talk to her dimwitted siblings. They all said that perspective was dangerous and that she should stay away from it. She shrugged, thinking, “What’s the use? I’ll be dead in a few days anyway.”
Solace wondered if her psyche would continue after her death, perhaps through her children. Was she just like her mother? Was she the actual soul of her mother? If that were the case, then who or what was she? More discouraging thoughts—more reasons to be sad. However, one morning, before she was to begin something called a migration, she happened upon a miserable-looking creature named Torment the caterpillar.
Torment was despondent because he could no longer move. He had eaten too much and was now hopelessly fat. He had devoured almost an entire milkweed plant and felt as though he might burst at the seams. He hung upside down on a branch, looking at the world below and wondering if the ants were going to crawl up and eat him before the day was done. Just then, a beautiful winged creature landed next to him and stared at him with dark, intelligent eyes.
Soon, Torment started speaking with Solace, and before long, he had forgotten all his pain. The butterfly was trying to explain to him the transformation he would undergo that very night. He laughed—the first time he could remember doing so—and didn’t believe her. Still, she was good at taking his mind off things, despite her fanciful tale of beauty, transformation, and change. As if a gross, fat, green slug-like creature could ever match her exquisite beauty.
She soon had to say goodbye, as evening was approaching. As she began to flap her wings to take off, Torment asked, “What is it like to fly?”
Solace replied, “It’s really quite incredible. The beauty of the world unfolds beneath you as you see and feel the colors and scents of nature revealing themselves. You glide on the wind and float in what seems to be an eternal dream—even though it’s short-lived.” As she flew away, she added, “You’ll understand soon enough.”
Torment called after her, “I sure hope so.”
And thus we have the story of how Torment met Solace one beautiful spring day.