25/07/2025
The Butterfly in the Jar
Once upon a time, in a quiet corner of a sunlit garden, sat a glass jar on an old wooden bench. Inside the jar lived a small butterfly, her wings painted with the colours of sunrise — soft pink, golden yellow, and hints of lavender. Her name was Lumi.
Lumi had been in the jar for as long as she could remember. She didn’t know how she got there. The lid had once been tightly screwed on, and though someone had unscrewed it long ago, she never tried to leave. You see, she had grown used to the space, the routine, the safety. The jar was her world, and outside… outside was unknown.
Sometimes, birds would fly past, or bees would buzz by and wave at her. “Come fly with us!” they’d call. But Lumi would flutter nervously in her jar and smile politely, saying, “Maybe another day.”
Inside, her wings ached to stretch. She dreamed of the sky, of flowers beyond the bench, of feeling the wind lift her body. But fear whispered, “What if you fall? What if the world is too big? What if you’re not strong enough?”
One evening, the garden was bathed in golden light. A warm breeze danced through the trees, and a little girl approached the jar. She sat quietly, watching Lumi.
“You know the lid’s been off for a while,” the girl whispered gently. “You’re free to go.”
Lumi trembled. “But… what if I can’t fly?”
The girl smiled, as if she understood. “You were never meant to stay in a jar. Even if you fall, you’ll learn. And when you fly, you’ll remember who you are.”
The words stirred something inside Lumi — a memory of light, of movement, of freedom. She climbed to the lip of the jar and looked out.
The world was vast. The sky stretched endlessly. Her wings shimmered in the light.
She closed her eyes.
And leapt.
For a moment, she wobbled. The wind caught her, unsure. But then—her wings remembered. They remembered how to move, how to lift, how to dance.
Lumi soared.
She rose above the jar, the bench, the garden. Higher and higher. Below her, everything looked smaller — the fears, the doubts, the glass walls she once called home.
That night, the stars blinked with joy as Lumi flew among them.
And the jar?
