"Papa, what are those called?" He chuckled and patted my head. I always loved it when he laughed.
"Those are called Swallowtail butterflies, Isara."
"Hmm," I hummed and continued watching the fluttering insects. Papa had liked to call them lepidop-something, but Mama told him to just call them butterflies when he was with me. I smiled at the thought; these butterflies were just like Mama. They looked pretty in a field of flowers just like she did. "Can we take one home to Mama?"
"I don't see why not." Papa grabbed a net and handed it to me. "You have to help, though."
"Yeah!" I tightened my grip on the handle and looked up at my now-standing papa. He nodded and went off to go catch one.
No matter how much I swung the net, though, I couldn't catch any. I let out a grunt of frustration and looked at the few that were flying inside Papa's net. How come I couldn't catch any? When my eyes began to fill up with tears and I let the net fall to the ground, I noticed that he let all his butterflies go. I couldn't hold back the tears anymore and just cried. I felt him rub my back in an effort to soothe me. Eventually, it worked and my hiccups were replaced with light sniffling.
"I can't ca-catch any," I sniffled. I didn't want to cry about it, but I just couldn't help it. All the other kids said that I was just a big crybaby anyway.
"Isara…" Papa moved my hands away from my face and wiped the tears with his favorite hanky. That was the hanky that Mama made for his birthday before I was born. I looked back at the field of butterflies and sniffled.
"Mama's just like those butterflies… She's so pretty wherever she is," I mumbled. I wanted to catch one just for her because she always liked it when Papa did it. I was surprised when Papa suddenly hugged me.
"And you're just like your mother and the butterflies." Papa pinched my cheek and grabbed the net I dropped. "If you do it just right, catching them isn't that hard. You may think it is, but once you know what to do…" Papa swung the net and caught one of the Swallowtails that I couldn't. "… It becomes really easy."
I stared at the net in awe. Papa really was amazing! He placed the net back into my hand and guided it. I glanced up at him and saw endless patience in his eyes. I nodded with renewed vigor; I would definitely catch one for Mama!
"Ah! Isara! Your face is all dirty!" Mama pulled me to the sink and started to wipe my face. I let out a sound of protest.
"M-Mama," I started and held up the caged butterfly. "I got this for you."
"Hmm, what…? Oh, Isara…" Mama carefully took the cage from my outstretched hand and smiled down at me. I loved it when Mama smiled, too. "Thank you."
I saw Papa standing in the doorway and grinned at him. He returned it with one of his own and a thumb up. "The butterflies are just like you, Mama. You're both so pretty and always playing with flowers!" Mama pulled away and kissed my cheek.
"What is your father teaching you?" I almost thought she was mad, but she giggled happily instead. "Really, thank you, Isara."
I almost thought Papa looked scared for a moment.
I sat up sleepily and climbed out of bed. I really had to use the potty. On the way, though, I saw Mama and Papa talking in the kitchen. I stopped in front of the doorway and listened to them.
"I think Isara got flowers confused with flour earlier. It was just too cute!"
"Just so you know, I haven't been teaching her anything weird. She just came to that conclusion about you and the butterflies by herself."
Mama laughed which made me smile.
"I know, I know. She really seems to have your intuition, though. I've never seen a child as perceptive as her."
Papa leaned over and gave Mama a kiss on the lips.
"She's more like you than you think. She was determined to catch a butterfly just for you. That reminds me of a certain someone during the Festival of –"
Mama cut Papa off with another kiss. I looked away in embarrassment. The way they kissed each other was different than the way they kissed me… I suddenly remembered that I needed to use the potty and ran past the doorway. Unexpectedly, I tripped in front of the arch and brought Mama and Papa's attention to me.
"Isara?"
"Uh oh," I looked up at them and sniffled, "I had an accident."
A/N: Well, that was a short, random piece of… I don't even know what to call it. I was working on the fourth chapter of Refraction because I lost the original file, but then I was working on this without realizing it.
At least little Isara's cute? And she notices weird things… like her Papa. (If you don't know who "Mama" and "Papa" refer to… well, why wouldn't you?)