Gracie's Friend

         "Once upon a time," Mommy says. "There was a sparkly blue butterfly."

         "Like me, Mommy?" I ask.

         "Yes, sweetheart. Just like you." She flaps her pretty orange wings, then smiles at me like she does when she's happy. I love when Mommy's happy.

         "Well, this butterfly lived in a giant oak tree, way up high! She would watch the leaves fall down, down, down the the ground, and sometimes, she would pretend that she was a leaf. She would stretch out her wings and flutter gently to the soft grass below."

         I close my eyes and pretend to be a leaf. Floating with leaves of all different colors, and landing gently, just like Mommy said. The grass tickles my wings. I giggle.

         "What was her name?" I ask.

         "Her name is Gracie," she explains.

         "Really? My name is Gracie too!" The pretty sparkly butterfly has the same name as me!

         "She does."

         "And does Gracie have a Mommy like me? And a Daddy?" I hope she has a nice Mommy and Daddy like I do.

         "Yes, sweetheart. She does. Isn't that great?"

         "Yeah!" I think about Gracie from the story for a minute. She sounds like me. Maybe she could be my friend if I ever met her. "What happens next?"

         "One day, Gracie decided that she wanted to go play in the meadow. She asked her Daddy if she could go, and her Daddy said yes. So she went to the meadow and found some nice purple flowers to play on." She stops for a minute, so I close my eyes again.

         This time I'm in the meadow, flying towards one of the purple flowers.

         Mommy starts telling the story again, but I keep my eyes closed. "She tried to land on one, but it moved away. 'What a silly flower!' Gracie laughed. 'Flowers don't move!' So she tried again and again, but the silly flower just kept moving. Gracie was getting upset."

         I frown a little. The flowers aren't supposed to move. What's going on?

         "She tried asking the flower to stay still. 'Excuse me, flower. Could you please stop moving? My wings are very tired, and I'd like somewhere to rest.'

         Instead of answering her, the flower giggled. 'Well, surely that isn't right. Flowers don't move, and they definitely don't giggle.' She was very confused, but only for a moment, because from under one of the purple petals, Gracie saw a bright pink wing."

         "Ooh, ooh!" I yell. "Is there another butterfly in the meadow?"

         Mommy smiles again, and nods her head.

         "'Hello!' the pink butterfly says. 'I'm Phoebe!' She flew up, up, up, twirled once in the air, then landed back on her flower. 'What's your name?

         'I'm Gracie. Wanna be friends? 'Cause I'd really love a new friend. '"

         I know a butterfly called Phoebe too. She's my best friend in the whole forest! She lives in a different tree, but that's okay. We play in the meadow together every day, and she's really good at hide-and-seek!

         "'Sure! said Phoebe. So Phoebe and Gracie became best friends. Every day, they played and talked and sang by those pretty purple flowers. And they lived happily ever after. The end."

         "Yay!" I shout. I love stories that are happily ever after! "That sounds just like me and my friend Phoebe!"

         "It sure does," Mommy says. "Now it's time for you to sleep, little one. Goodnight. I love you."

         "I love you too, Mommy!" I yell as she flutters away. I curl up on my own tree branch, fall asleep, and dream about all my adventures with my best friend.

The End.

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