The lily and the butterfly

A single lily in the middle of a field of hay bloomed beneath the morning sunlight.

Be as it may, a butterfly flew across the field and settled on the flower.

“Crafty!” exclaimed the butterfly.

Dormant, the lily raised itself and asked…

“Excuse me?”

“Fascinatingly crafty! I find the way you have managed to choose to live in a field of hay fascinating!”

Growing in interest, the flower stretched its stem, and let out a good morning flowery yawn.

“How are we doing this morning, Mr. Butterfly?”

“I am doing rather well, why thank you, and how about you, white lily?"

“Je pense, donc je suis. I did not choose to live here, that’s where I was born, this is where I will live and this is where I shall perish. I have no choice in the matter. Quite a miserable predicament, if you ask me. I am not as free as you, you see. You may choose wherever you go, just as you came…”

“Knitting over here?” interrupted the butterfly. “Well, knitting is the wrong word, but I like that word - knitting! knitting, knit, knit, knitting!” kept repeating the butterfly gleefully.

“Let’s give each other names,” continued the butterfly after its excitement over the word knitting had passed on.

“mmm… I would like to be called….mmm…PROBABILITY!

No! Not probability, mmm….

Orpheus? No, too godly. Let’s call me Zitsu! Yes, I like it! Zitsu, Zitsu! Zitsu is my name!”

“Psst… I don’t like excited and happy people, they depress me,” said the lily. "What does Zitsu mean anyway?”

Queuing up its thoughts, Zitsu replied “Zitsu means flippy in my language! I flip and I flop and then I zig and I zag… You know what I mean? I keep you on your toes!”

“Really interesting,” sneered the lily.

“Sure it is! But never mind this. What will be your name?” asked the butterfly.

“Totally don’t care,” replied the lily. “I don’t give a rat’s ass, don’t you understand?”

“Understand? I’m trying to give you the opportunity to choose your name, the opportunity to be able to identify yourself as you would like to be. It could be a step in choosing who you want to be, what you want to be, what you want to do with the situation you find yourself in. You may think that you have not chosen the place you find yourself in, but you have total freedom to choose your outlook and what you do in the situation you are in! And no one else but you can choose and live the choice you make!”

“Very well,” replied the lily still nonchalantly. “I want to wake up every morning and be glad to be awake. I want to love the way I live, the place where I live, the people I come across, the life that I lead and the things that I do. I want to feel life vibrating through my body at every instant. I want to see the world, experience everything and constantly be aware of how lucky I am to be alive, to breathe, to smell, to feel, to see, to hear. I want to love not to be loved in return, but for the sake of loving. I want to smile not expecting others to smile back at me, but smile because I feel I live in a wonderful world. I want to be kind and helpful not to be appreciated in return, but just because it is in my nature to be kind and helpful. And above all, I want to be truth and humility because these combine to make true beauty. And when I finally fall asleep at night, I want a deep & contented sweet sleep with the sweetest dreams. And so, my name is ‘X’ like the cross that you mark in your target that you want to achieve….

“What?", exclaimed the lily, suddenly with excitement “Why are you looking at me like that?”

“X,” called out the butterfly to the lily.

"Yes?" said X.

Zitsu lowered its wings towards the lily, and gently whispered "Grab my wings." X grabbed on to them with its petals. The butterfly took off with the lily below it… they both flew across the field of hay.