Hecria

and with a crack, the layers and layers of wax began to flake off.

each scale unsheathed revealed another beneath it, and every piece was liberally taken by the wind, as if to tell the world that the being encased had finally awakened.

and after some time, Hecria emerged from inside.

and it saw the fuchsia sky, and the silken grass, and the wind’s hands carrying the remains of its cocoon.

ever since it was a larva, Hecria had always wanted to fly.

and now, it had become what it envied.