I was sitting by myself at the company picnic, trying to think of something clever to say to Madeline Garber. She’s worked in the cubicle next to mine for more than a year and I wanted to ask her out the day I met her. But whenever I tried talking to her my mind went blank and the stutter I’ve had since childhood grew worse.
You’d think an electrical engineer with an M.I.T. degree would have achieved some degree of confidence. The trouble is, in my mind I’m still the high school nerd who hid behind his books to avoid embarrassing himself when talking to people.
As usual, I was inside my head ignoring everything around me, when this vision — the exact opposite of Madeline and everyone in my world — caught my attention. Her blonde hair was streaked with green and orange, and she wore yellow shorts with a matching midriff-top, displaying a tanned belly with a butterfly tattoo perched atop a glistening navel ring.
I heard Pat Bayliss telling her it was a closed party for employees at Bayliss Technology and their guests. She pointed in my direction, smiled, and said, “I’m with him.”
For the first time in my life, I acted like a normal male. Without over-thinking the situation, I held out my arms and welcomed her. It might have been my first impulsive act since childhood.
“I was afraid y-you weren’t going to make it,” I said.
“No way,” she shouted over the chatter of the picnickers. “I’ve been looking forward to this all week.” She threw her arms around me and kissed me on the lips, adding a “mmm” and a smacking sound that made the crowd go quiet as the collective jaws of my male colleagues dropped. I looked for Madeline but couldn’t see her.
She whispered in my ear, “I’m Sky.”
“My n-name is E-Eliot.” Damn that stutter.
I became the center of attention. Men I had barely spoken to now invited us to sit with them. Sky enjoyed the attention as much as the free food. She laughed and flirted, but grabbed my arm whenever the joking got too personal.
After we ate, she asked if I’d take a walk with her. Hand in hand, we strolled a path around the lake. I showed off my one athletic skill — skipping stones.
She thanked me for letting her stay at the party and told me her boyfriend had kicked her out of his apartment that morning and she needed a place to crash.
I committed my second impulsive act of the day. I invited her to stay at my place.
“I h-have an extra bedroom.”
“Oh, I hate sleeping alone,” she replied, as if commenting on the weather.
I felt my knees buckle, but somehow managed not to fall on my face.
We excused ourselves and left the picnic early. Men snickered. Madeline furrowed her brow, as if she didn’t believe what she was seeing, but managed to smile and shake Sky’s hand.
“You and the dark-haired chick must have something going,” Sky said as we walked away. “At least she’d like to.”
“R-really?” was my clever response.
I thought Sky would stay for a day or two. But a month later, we still shared a bed. I wasn’t complaining.
I told her about my awkward childhood and how my stuttering kept me from most social activities, so I put my energies in my studies. She shared stories about sex orgies and drug trips, including a short stay in a Peruvian prison that had me wondering how much she was making up for my amusement. She liked me calling her Butterfly and she called me Stud. Only we knew it referred more to my speech problem than my bedroom performance.
I used her as much as she used me. We were as compatible as sardines and turkey gravy — and we both knew it — but I’d arrange for her to bring a file to a job site or meet me for lunch at my cubicle, just to see the faces of my coworkers. She said it was the least she could do for free room and board.
She designed sets for a local theater group and when we weren’t wrapped in each other’s arms, or I wasn’t showing her how to use software programs to help with her designs, we hung out with her artist friends. She’d flit from person to person while I leaned against a wall, clinging to a drink as if I’d fall through a hole in the floor if I didn’t hold on tight.
Soon she was staying out late with her friends and not inviting me. Occasionally, she’d be gone all night.
Butterflies, I know, aren’t known for long life spans. Still, I tried holding on to her. I even let her pick out a wardrobe to replace my jeans and black t-shirts. But I felt foolish in white pants and a mint green shirt.
Without ever really talking about it, she said she found another place, kissed me and fluttered off. To be honest, part of me felt relieved.
I missed her, especially at night. But I had grown more confident. I still stuttered, but I didn’t care. My coworkers now included me at lunchtime and I’d manage to retell jokes I heard from Sky and her friends with a minimum of strain.
I even asked Madeline out to dinner.
“I thought you were with the person I met at the picnic?”
“No,” I told her. “She was just passing by.”
Wayne Scheer has been locked in a room with his computer and turtle since his retirement. (Wayne’s, not the turtle’s.) To keep from going back to work, he’s published hundreds of short stories, essays and poems, including, Revealing Moments, a collection of twenty-four flash stories, available at http://www.pearnoir.com/thumbscrews.htm. He’s been nominated for four Pushcart Prizes and a Best of the Net. Wayne can be contacted at wvscheer@aol.com.
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27 Responses to “BUTTERFLY • by Wayne Scheer”
Comments
« FIRST TIME • by L.E. Elder | Home | THE SAT-NAV OF DOOM • by Nyki Blatchley »
May 29th, 2011 at 12:32 am
Well, I enjoyed this story.
I liked the way that Butterfly’s confidence rubbed off onto the narrator, and he finally went out with Madeline.
It took a butterfly to make a man out of a geek!
I like happy endings. Well done!
May 29th, 2011 at 12:46 am
Refreshingly understated, simple and charming.
May 29th, 2011 at 1:52 am
An easy story to read and to relate to. I really like the premis of a beautiful butterfly that flits from flower to flower – it adds to the flower and takes a reward for the pleasure. Nice story Wayne – thank you!
Dave
May 29th, 2011 at 1:57 am
Lovely story, with the details just right.
May 29th, 2011 at 2:59 am
This was pretty. I’d have liked a bit of Butterfly in bed, but that’s just me being dirty. A lot of women like shy men; they think they’re easier to control. I was hoping he’d fall in love; he seemed to use her as his trophy girfriend, but as it says in the story, ‘I used her as much as she used me’. (Is that a line from a song?) Nice he ended up with the woman he wanted. Thanks.
May 29th, 2011 at 3:19 am
@ Samantha
Nightmoves by Bob Seger has a line something like that: “I used her and she used me and neither one cared…”
I’m sure it’s somewhere on Youtube. Maybe that’s what you’re thinking of?
May 29th, 2011 at 3:43 am
@Merlin
It is. My husband’s got it. Always got played at parties.
May 29th, 2011 at 3:48 am
Found it unbelievable, and a bit silly.
Two stars.
May 29th, 2011 at 4:18 am
A wish-fulfilment tale with an example of ‘meeting cute’. This was well-written and I quite liked the contrasting characters, but it was too whimsical for me.
May 29th, 2011 at 4:50 am
I enjoyed this story — interesting and well written, kept my attention all the way long. Five stars from me.
May 29th, 2011 at 6:40 am
I thought this was a fun and interesting story. I liked the characters, I liked the writing. I didn’t think it was unbelievable at all, actually. A friend of mine once experienced something similar (except in his case he married the butterfly).
Well written, kept my attention and interest and even though the ending wasn’t what I expected, I liked it. I always enjoy a story that ends with a relevant impact on the life of the protagonist. Maybe it doesn’t end the way you thought but it was worth it for the main character.
Five stars from me. Four and a half for my assessment of the story and the other half can go toward’s off-setting the low-ranked and highly detailed review someone else offered. It was such an in-depth review that one might even call it unbelievably silly.
I guess some stories just can’t measure up against a finely crafted Clay Aiken fanfic…
May 29th, 2011 at 6:55 am
Heeheehee, I love getting fan mail!
May 29th, 2011 at 7:03 am
Jim, I find it shameful when a reader can’t offer his or her honest opinion of a story without being criticized for it.
Now, about the story: I think it’s delightful. I like Eliot and his butterfly extremely, and I definitely see the logic of no “happily ever after” between them. A sweet tale with tight writing.
Four company picnic stars, Mr. Scheer – I always thoroughly enjoy your work.
May 29th, 2011 at 7:05 am
I think the topic is familiar, reminds me of a movie or two. Still, I thought this was a well-written, fun read for a Sunday morning! High five from me.
May 29th, 2011 at 7:33 am
Aww, a nice romantic story. As a girl nerd, I definitly identified with this. Some people aren’t meant to be together forever, but they’re realtionships are still important. Sky definitly helped Eliot to grow and without her he wouldn’t've asked out Madeline.
May 29th, 2011 at 8:47 am
I thought the premise a little shaky, and the butterfly a little too easy (came off just a bit too much as every man’s fantasy- I hate sleeping alone – rather than a real person). Perhaps in a longer story, the relationship could have been developed more slowly and felt more realistic. This would have also perhaps added some melancholy to her inevitable departure. That said, the line about showing off his one athletic skill was so real and funny that it more than makes up for any short comings.
May 29th, 2011 at 5:02 pm
i liked the story.It had a breezy mood and the ending was just right–he couldn’t really keep Butterfly. The writing was good and paced well.
May 29th, 2011 at 5:04 pm
I thought the butterfly nature of the character matched her tattoo and lifestyle perfectly and was delighted by the honesty that it wasn’t a match made in heaven, nor was he the stud he would have wished.Thinking of ‘the butterfly effect’, this brief encounter radically changed his life (in a good way)and I thoroughly enjoyed seeing him grow in confidence- even to the point he was able to say that the clothes she chose for him weren’t his style. Bet he never even thought about clothes or what suited him before.
May 29th, 2011 at 5:20 pm
@ 18, The last line of that post made me reread the entire thing. Astute and perceptive comments.
May 30th, 2011 at 12:03 am
Good solid 4 stars Wayne
I would like to have seen
a bigger hook to start.
I loved the story….
May 30th, 2011 at 2:33 am
If I hadn’t just read the Millennium Trilogy, I would have found ‘Butterfly’ a very original character.
On top of this, the second half of this piece was a bit too much tell rather than show.
That said, it’s a strangely compelling story, appealing to the inherant insecurity present in many writers.
May 30th, 2011 at 10:06 am
Seeing and commenting on this late — holiday weekend and all (and a “Happy Memorial Day!” to my fellow Yanks).
I liked this story. Yes, I can think of several “meek guy gets swept up with wild, free-spirit girl” stories, so in some ways it might border on cliche. But I found the telling very understated, and fitting in the whole relationship arc into a flash piece was done very well.
There were several parts that were just excellent — the skipping stones, as was mentioned, and the “sardines and turkey gravy” analogy, for example.
4 stars from me.
May 30th, 2011 at 2:58 pm
Loved this. Fun and light and believable – I wouldn’t have “bought” it, if you’d tried to write them as a Happily Ever After Couple, but that she flutters in, flutters off… works for me.
May 31st, 2011 at 7:16 am
I enjoyed reading the story and wondering how it would conclude.
May 31st, 2011 at 1:22 pm
I’m in the category of those who thoroughly enjoyed this story. Someone else might not have been able to pull it off, but with the strong writing and strong sense of character, I found it completely believable. And I liked the ending. I could not have accepted an ending in which Eliot and Butterfly lived happily ever after. Five stars.
June 1st, 2011 at 11:54 am
Rooted for the nerd the whole way. Five stars.
I agree with Debi that people should be allowed to give their honest opinion, but I also think a point can be put across without being disrespectful or dismissive to the author. What’s the Golden Rule?
July 15th, 2011 at 8:24 pm
Very sweet & engaging.