Chasing Butterflies 🦋

The light from the sky touched the ground. The green of the grass
reached its peak of vibrancy.

The world started waking to a new day.

Ira pressed her palm against the glass of the window. She had been
standing there for a while. She had seen how, the way the sky felt
changed as the morning light spread across it.

It was a Friday and Ira did not want to go to school. She understood
how school was important, but every single day except Sunday? ‘Is it
even fair?’ Ira thought.

“Why almost the entire week? Aren’t two or three days enough?” the 10
years old girl asked her father while waiting for breakfast. Ira’s
mother had to leave early for the office that day.

Ira’s father, Mr Mehra looked at Ira and said “Don’t you have friends
at school, whom you want to meet every day?”

Ira thought for a while and replied, “I have friends and I enjoy being
with them, but I am not sure, I am eager to meet them every day.”

Mr Mehra placed a plate of sandwiches in front of Ira, “You know how
important school is don’t you? Besides, there are activities and
sports classes as well, aren’t they fun?”

“What about the activities I do at home? They need more time too,” Ira replied

Ira’s father sensed something different about his daughter that day,
and he knew Ira won’t let go of that thought, the whole day.

“Okay, so don’t go to school today. Do what you think needs more of
your time with this day,” said Mr Mehra.

Ira observed her father’s expression and waited a while, expecting him
to say that he didn’t actually mean it and Ira must go to school. But
the words did not come.

Ira ate her breakfast with a newfound happiness, the sandwiches tasted
better than how they tasted a while before, the life outside the
window seemed more beautiful.



Ira went back to her room after breakfast, opened her closet and took
out her favourite possession, her digital camera. She climbed down the
stairs and went out to the park after informing her father.

The initial photos had clouds and flowers as their subjects and then
there were plants and ants too. The butterflies were the tricky ones,
and Ira’s neighbour requested her way into becoming the subject of one
of Ira’s photographs.

The most interesting photograph however was quite different from the
rest. While Ira was chasing the butterflies for a picture, her
school’s school bus passed by, Ira couldn’t find a good place to hide
and she didn’t have the time to. Some students and teachers were
surprised to see Ira in the park and that’s when she took it. The
photograph of their expressions.

Ira’s parents had a good round of laughter in the evening when they
saw the photograph. Mr Mehra was more amused by the fact that Ira had
actually decided to capture the photograph.

“Well let’s make up a good reason for not going to school today, since
the reason of any form of illness has gone out of the window now,”
said Mrs Mehra

“Why make it up, let’s tell them, Ira had to give time to her
photography project,” said Mr Mehra as he looked towards Ira and both
exchanged a smile.

–

Written by Anuran Chatterji

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