Summer the butterfly flew lazily
threw the cattails on the shores of Polliwog Pond. It was nice to be out in the great outdoors and enjoy the
beautiful sunshine. Ever since her
baby sister, Lyla, had hatched from her egg, Summer’s home had been rather
noisy, and no one seemed to even notice that Summer was around.
Before
long Summer met up with her twin sister, Madison. Madison was enjoying the outdoors as much as Summer. She understood exactly how Summer felt.
“It
is so nice out here today,” Summer said dreamily.
“I
thought Lyla would never hush last night,” said Madison.
“I
know,” added Summer. “I don’t
think I have gotten to sleep through the night since she hatched.”
“Me
either,” said Madison.
Just
then their friend, Audra the duck, emerged from the path to the clearing. “Good morning, Summer and Madison,”
said Audra pleasantly.
“Good
morning, Audra,” said the twins at the same time.
“You
know it is really creepy when you two do that,” stated Audra with a glare.
“It’s
a twin thing,” they again said at the same time.
Audra
rolled her eyes and then looked around the pond. “So, what do you two want to do today?” asked Audra. “Why don’t we go see your new baby
sister?”
Summer
just grunted and then flew away.
Audra looked at Madison and asked, “What did I say?”
Madison
replied, “Baby Lyla is a rather touchy subject with Summer right now. Our whole house seems to be about
nothing but Lyla, and I understand exactly how she feels. I don’t think our parents have noticed
us for days.”
Meanwhile,
Summer flew into the clearing where Xavier the frog and Hayden the turtle were
playing knights and having pretend sword fights.
“Good
morning, Xavier and Hayden” said Summer pleasantly. “Can I play, too?”
“Sure,”
said Xavier as he lunged at Hayden with his stick sword. “You can be a maiden fair and cheer us
on.”
Summer
landed on a tall piece of grass and began to cheer both boys trying to give
each one the same amount of encouragement. Before long, Audra the duck waddled into the clearing with
Madison sitting on her nose. At
first, Summer ignored Audra, but then Madison came and landed next to
Summer. After some gentle prodding
from her sister, Summer explained their role and each one decided which brave
knight would receive their praise.
For
a while, everyone was having great fun, but then the boys grew tired and
decided to sit down. Everyone
gathered in the middle of the clearing to decide what to do next. Summer tried to make several
suggestions, but everyone was talking at once. Suddenly, Summer flew up in a rush pushing Xavier
backwards. Without a word she
disappeared in the tall grass leaving her friends speechless.
After
a moment of stunned silence, Hayden asked, “What is wrong with Summer? I have never seen her act like that.”
Madison
responded, “Summer is a little out of sorts today. We both are really.
Let’s go find her. I bet
she is crying her eyes out.”
The
four friends set out into the tall grass to look for Summer and found her not
far from the clearing. She was
crying her eyes out. As her
friends approached, Summer blurted out miserably, “I am so sorry I pushed you
Xavier. I just couldn’t stand
being ignored again.”
Madison
went to her sister, put her arms around her, and said, “It’s okay. I explained to everybody on the way here about how hard it
has been since Lyla was born. They
understand and nobody is mad at you.”
Summer
looked at her friends through tear-filled eyelashes. Then Audra suggested, “Why don’t we let Summer choose what
we do next?”
Everyone
liked that idea, and Summer chose to play castle at their rock castle
fortress. She thought that would
be a perfect way to continue their afternoon since they had all had such fun in
the clearing. For the rest of the
afternoon Summer enjoyed the company of her friends and forgot all about her
troubles at home. Maybe soon baby
Lyla would be fun to have around, too.
