Once upon a time there was a small fish in a bowl. It was black and yellow striped. The person that fed the little fish called him Fishy, not much of a name but then the little fish did not care. What’s in a name given to a little fish in a bowl? Fishy was fed and the water changed every other day. There were pretty blue rocks on the bottom of the bowl which he rearranged at will every other day after the water change. So the days passed. One day on a summer day the person opened the window for the little breeze to pass though the house. Fishy did not know the different except a random ripple along the top of his water. Suddenly, Fishy noticed an odd object sitting on the side of his bowl.
Sitting there near the top was a blue and gold object. Fishy let himself drift toward the glass. He was totally surprise to see the creature. He knew it was alive because it had thin iridescent blue wings that moved slowly. As Fishy got closer he noted that the little creature was staring at him. Fishy pressed his nose to the glass. “Hello”, said the small creature, “What are you?”
Surprised Fishy said, “I am a fish. What are you?”
“I am a butterfly, why are you in water?” Said the little butterfly.
“It is where I live, what are you doing here?” Fishy moved his fins to keep himself at the edge of the bowl.
“Looking. You want to be my friend?” “My name is Flutter.” The little butterfly folded his wings as he stared at Fishy
“Sure” said Fishy, “What is a friend?”
Flutter moved his wings slowly, “I think it is someone who talks to you and comes to visit.”
Fishy’s fins move slowly keeping him next to the side of the bowl. “Well I can not leave here, how would “visit” work?”
Flutter folded his wings, “I do not know” Flutter walked to the top of the bowl and looked down into the water. He then walked several times around the bowl until he reached the bottom. He once again looked at Fishy, “this is going to be hard.”
Fishy agreed by swimming fast around the bowl. “So can we still be friends?” he asked as he once again came close to the glass.
“Why not! We can still talk!” Said Flutter.
About that time the person enter the room and startled both of the friends with a loud nose, “What?” The person followed the startled butterfly as it took flight and flew out the window.
The person picked up the little bowl and stared at Fishy. “Who’s your new friend Fishy?”
Since Fishy could not answer, the person sat the bowl down. “Well whoever it was it was a beauty.”
Night fell and the window was shut. The next day Fishy hung close to the top of the bowl waiting for his “friend”. Flutter did not come. Long toward the afternoon Fishy’s person came in and open the window. A short time later Fishy notice movement at the edge and floated up to find Flutter. “Hi”
“Where you been?” asked Fishy.
“Outside, the window was closed” answered Flutter.
“So you need that clear spot over there open?” Asked Fishy
“Yes, it has to be open for me to get in.” was Flutter’s response. “This is really going to be hard!” said Fishy and Flutter at the same time.
Flutter and Fishy spent the afternoon together. Fishy showed off his swimming skills and Flutter jumped into the air and flew up and down and around and around. But just before the person closed the window Flutter flew out and Fishy settled down for the night, he heard his person say something about, how strange that butterfly was back again.
Some days passed and Flutter could not get in, but on other days the window opened early and the 2 friends spent long hours doing nothing but keeping each other company. Fishy began to notice how quite the person was sometimes. Like the person was trying not to scare the butterfly.
The summer passed by on this routine. One day the window open early and Flutter appeared on the side of the glass. Flutter was sad, Fishy sense it.
“What wrong?” Asked Fishy.
“The summer is ending and I will die.” Sighed Flutter
Why? Fishy did not understand but then he was just a fish in a bowl.
“Because that is what happens to butterflies.” Sighed Flutter again.
Fishy did not understand, but he thought of what he heard his person say now and then, “It will take a miracle if things are to work out. I am not going to talk about it.” “Here one day gone tomorrow.” Fishy did not know what that meant but he remembered another person who used to change his bowl and then was no longer around.
“Maybe we need a miracle”, he told Flutter.
“What is that”? Asked Flutter
“I don’t know but I think it is something that keeps things the same.” If fish could scratch their heads Fishy would have, as it was, he just let himself sink to the bottom. Flutter walked down the side of the bowl and they sat and looked at each other.
Flutter finally asked, “If we asked for a miracle what would we ask for?”
“I don’t know, maybe you can stay forever.” Fishy finally said.
The sun went down, the friends did not notice. The person did not come in and close window. Time passed and passed, very odd. 2 days passed. Finally the person appeared and closed the window. The person turned to the fish bowl but did not find it. The person found a small glass bowl with a black/yellow plastic fish with blue pebbles stuck to the bottom and a blue/gold plastic butterfly stuck to the outside glass. The person stared at the fish bowl that was no longer a fish bowl and a fish that was no longer a fish and a butterfly that was no longer a butterfly. It was some kind of miracle.
The person suddenly put down the bowl. The person went into the other room picked up the phone and made a call. When the person heard the voice at the other end, the person said “Can we talk?”