Dash

In the midst of his nightly walk, Dash suddenly notices a butterfly resting on a flower. The butterfly has the most beautiful wings, and Dash has never seen it before, even if he walks the same trail once at least every week. He stops to look at it for a moment, before continuing his walk, thinking nothing of it. It’s just a happy coincidence.

But the next week it happens again. This week, Dash has brought his coals and a sketchbook, and he makes a quick sketch of the butterfly before continuing. The next day he shows his sketch to his boss, who tells him to get back to work. He shows it to his friend, who tells him that he should pursue the arts because he is obviously talented. He shows it to the tavern keeper, who asks him if he wants another drink. Dash orders another drink.

On his next walk, Dash sees the butterfly again. He notices that it’s resting on the exact same flower. And, more importantly, another butterfly has joined it, resting on another flower. Over the course of Dash’ walks, more and more butterflies join in on the fun, and not before long the entire field of flowers is filled with beautiful butterflies. However, Dash cannot help but to feel unnerved. The next day he goes to the clan’s biologist to talk about the strange phenomenon.

“It’s migrating season, it’s normal that they’re here.”, the biologist tells Dash after listening to his story. “They rest during the night so they can safely fly on in the daylight. There’s nothing to worry about.” Dash thanks the good dragon for listening, but doesn’t believe that at all. He decides to stop walking that trail for a while, just to see what will happen. After a month or so, he returns.

Only to find the entire trail littered by butterflies, as far as the eye can see.