The Tale of the New Addition

           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.