The Ladies of Horror
Picture-Prompt Writing Challenge!

Never Wish Upon A White Butterfly
by Melissa R. Mendelson 

It was a strange creature, one that rested on her palm and seemed to know that she would never harm it.  Its legs tickled her as she watched its every move.  She closed her hand over it, as if to protect it from something, but then, her hand opened.  A fist swiftly swung down, punching against the creature’s body.

“No,” she screamed as she looked at the smooshed caterpillar in her hand.  “Why?  Why did you do that?  I thought you were just going to look at it.”

The other girl and her friend laughed, and a fist struck the other girl.

“How do you like it?”  She stood over the other girl as her friend ran off, probably going to get the camp counselor.  “At least, I can’t smoosh you.”

“You’re going to regret that, Robin.”  The other girl rubbed her face.  “Mark my words.  My friends and I will be looking for you later.”  She ran off into the woods.

“I’ll be waiting,” but Robin’s voice shook.

Robin hurried into the woods in the opposite direction.  The camp counselor would be calling for them soon to board the bus, but maybe, she would hide out here.  Then, maybe, somehow, she would call her parents and get them to take her back home.  She hated sleepaway camp, but she knew when the camp counselor called for her, she would answer.

“Make a wish.”

Robin looked around, but no one was there.  There was not even a breeze blowing.  The air was still, not even a bird chirped, but she knew that she had heard a voice.

“Make a wish.”

Something flew past Robin.  It was a large white butterfly that now rested on a branch.  It seemed to focus on her, and its gaze made her skin crawl.

“Make a wish?”  Robin asked.

The large white butterfly bobbed up and down on the branch as if it were nodding.  “Make a wish,” it said.  “One wish only.”

“You’re just a butterfly.”  Robin stared at it, waiting for it to say something else, but it didn’t.  “You don’t grant wishes.”

“Does your hand hurt?”

Robin looked at her hand.  She still had parts of the caterpillar pressed against her skin, and her hand folded into a fist.  “Okay.  I wish…  I wish someone would smoosh Meredine like she did that caterpillar, but it’s never going to happen.”  She turned toward the large white butterfly, but it was gone.  “It’s not going to happen.”  Her words hung in the air.

The camp counselor called for them.  The girls had to be in the clearing within ten minutes, or if they were late, then after dinner, they would not be allowed to participate in the night activities.  Meredine and her friends would hang back for a few minutes just to be late.  That way, they could stay in the cabin and hatch their plan for revenge, but Robin wouldn’t be late.  Maybe, this would delay whatever they came up with, but like Meredine said, “My friends and I will be looking for you later.”

As Robin headed toward the clearing, a loud snap echoed across the woods.  Screams followed.  The ground shook a moment later.

Robin followed the screams to a fallen tree.  She didn’t know what the big deal was until she spotted an arm sticking out from one side.  It was Meredine’s arm.  She recognized the pink fingernails, but where was the rest of her?

“You made your wish.”

The large white butterfly flew off the tree and disappeared into the woods.

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Fiction © Copyright Melissa R. Mendelson
Image courtesy of Pixabay.com.

About Author Melissa R. Mendelson:

Melissa R. Mendelson is the author of the Sci-Fi Novella, Waken, and the poetry collection, This Will Remain With Us.  She also has two self-published short story collections, Better Off Here and Stories Written Along COVID Walls.  All the books can be found on Amazon/Amazon Kindle.

If you’d like to learn more about Melissa, you can visit her accounts here: https://linktr.ee/melissarmendelson