The Flower Garden

The butterfly was just out of reach, it’s wings shimmering in the early morning light. With clumsy attempts Lily reached for it, trying to capture the elusive insect inside her small hands. Just as she had finally almost reached it I caught her hand, shaking my head.
“You must be gentle,” I told her softly, “For this creature is not harmful in any way, and though you simply want to look at it, catching it too hard could result in it’s death.”
Lily listened, though her soft brown eyes were still fixed on the butterfly above us. “I don’t wanna hurt it, I just want it to sit still.” She said, her soft voice echoing loudly in the deserted field.
“I know love, but there’s many times we don’t mean to hurt someone and will if we are not gentle.” I explained patiently. “Cup your hands like this Lillian,” I moved her hands into a form similar to mine. “Now very slowly approach the butterfly and put your hands around it.” I said softly.
Lily did as she was told, carefully moving towards the insect and cupping her hands around it. She pulled them back, her eyes wide with surprise as she looked up at me. A very small, very innocent smile had spread across her face, showing the glee only a small child can. She opened her hands slowly, watching the butterfly as it flapped it’s wings up and down. It started to rise from her hands, and quickly she captured it again, watching it slowly.
“Let it go now Lillian,” I prodded gently.
“I don’t wanna,” She complained, holding the butterfly closer.
“You can’t keep it Lily, it’ll die,” I said softly. Reluctantly she opened her hands, watching as the butterfly floated away from us. Tears were rapidly filling those globe-like eyes as she watched her prized friend disappear.
“It’ll be back,” I told her gently. “And now it will live, all thanks to you Lillian. Aren’t you happy?”
Lily looked at me, seeming to consider this. Finally she nodded, her brown curls bouncing up and down.
We continued our walk through the garden, marveling, giggling, and pointing to all the bright colors around us. I was thankful we didn’t see any more butterflies, as I wasn’t entirely sure Lily would give up a second one if caught.
Suddenly a wail broke out as Lillian cried and screamed in apparent pain. I whorled around, trying to assess what was the matter. She was standing… She wasn’t bleeding, but what then?
Looking at her hands I understood. She was holding one tightly, enclosing where I had to guess she had been stung. We were beside a flowering bush that had bees flying all around it. I wouldn’t put it past the small girl to try and catch one unknowingly.
Quietly I moved to Lily, enclosing her in a comforting hug.
“It’s alright Lily Pad, it’s going to be alright.” I pulled back, gently taking her hand to examine it. Sure enough there was a small bee sting right on the palm, a fairly good sign that she had tried to catch the defensive flyer.
After a few moments Lily stopped crying, sniffling a little as she glared at the bush of bees.
“It… It bit me!” She told me indignantly. “The butterfly bit me!”
I managed to hide me smile, shaking my head a little. “Those aren’t butterflies Silly Lily,” She said softly. “Those are bees, and they sting as you found out.”
“I don’t like them,” She announced angrily.
“Well, if you leave them alone, they leave you alone,” I explained calmly. “If you’re civil to them, they’re civil to you.”
She was quiet, considering this. “But I didn’t hurt them,” She protested suddenly, “I caught it just as you showed me,”
“It probably thought you were one of those kids who wouldn’t let it go though,” I told her seriously. “It didn’t know you weren’t going to hurt it.”
“Bees are bad,” She said firmly, nodding to emphasize this.
“Do you like flower’s?” I asked her suddenly, smiling once more. She nodded slowly, not understanding why I had asked such an odd question. “Well without bees, there wouldn’t be most flower’s.” I told her quietly. “And then the world would miss out on some very lovely plants. Wouldn’t that be sad?”
Lily nodded, looking suspiciously at the bees. “Yes, it would.” She agreed quietly.
“So bees are a good thing, right?” I continued.
“Right,” She said, smiling at last, her sting forgotten for the time being.
The rest of the day we walked around our garden, taking much more careful approaches at everything we saw. Patiently I told her the names and natures of every bug, plant, and animal we saw. As the sun began to set we were forced to return inside, still talking excitedly about our many discoveries.

Lily is older now, with the same soft brown eyes and bouncing curls of her youth. Her once childish features are now chiseled into that of a woman, laugh lines at her eyes and mouth. She outgrew her mother just as every child hopes… She outgrew me. She was never a typical teenager, even as she grew slowly more distant to me. She always had a love for animals and protecting them, always wanted to do everything she could to educate others.
There she was, talking in excited tones to her young daughter Rose. Yes, I know what you’re thinking. That makes me a grandmother when it seems I was a mother of one only a few moments before. Lily and Rose made their way around my garden, pointing and giggling about everything they saw. At last they were on their way back, the sun setting in brilliant colors behind them.
“Gramma Iris! Gramma Iris!” Rose called gleefully, running to embrace me tightly. I smiled, hugging her warmly as I imagined my own little Lily at this age again.
“Did you have fun exploring the garden?” I asked her. She nodded, her dishwater blond hair straight like her father’s, her brown eyes sparkling like her mother’s.
“I wanna come back tomorrow Gramma. Can I? Please! Mommy said I could only come back tomorrow if you said I could.” She explained, smiling widely.
“If you want to rest you can mom, Rose can wait.” Lily said quickly, coming up behind her daughter quickly.
“I always have room in this garden for my two favorite girls.” I told them softly, smiling at Lily. “Besides, it isn’t much of a garden without my two favorite flowers.”