That was a winter night. The clock was showing 10 O' clock. I cuddled up on my bed and pulled the blanket over my head. It was snug and cozy. Slowly I fell asleep looking at the flickering stars through my bedroom window and memorising what happened that day........Next day.... I woke up to the dawn chorus. And spent some time in my cozy blanket and got up reluctantly. My mother was busy preparing carrier box for my lunch. I wondered how could she be able to do such things like washing last nights dishes, preparing meals and cleaning house early morning even in this stone cold winter season and paid my silent tribute to her. Then I washed my face and went out side for a small stroll to stretch and free my body.It tickled when I first had put my feet hesitantly into the rill which was a few yards away from our house, but my feet became numb with cold after crossing it. The visibility was not clear as the fog still hung over the air. I had passed through a large cobweb hanging from a sweet thorn tree and it was stuck to my wet clothes. As I was trying to get myself rid off that I suddenly felt a smooth wet thing was touching my elbow. At first I thought That was a leaf. Only while trying to remove that had I realised that it was a Butterfly caught in the cobweb and probably spent the whole night in freezing cold. "Oh that must be horrible." I thought. It was still but I was not sure whether it was dead. I had decided to give it a try. The sun is gradually clearing the morning mist. I had rushed to a place where we were getting clear sun shine. I had dabbed its black spotted tiny blue wings with the dry part of my T-shirt and held gently with my hands. I had waited for a long time. Its wings were flapping to the occasionally blowing wind but there was no sign of life. It was dead.
-By Viroti Somasekhar
