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It was a beautiful spring afternoon at the park. The flowers were blooming, trees were green, and the weather was pleasant. Brian Bell walked down the sidewalk with his hands shoved in his pockets as he observed his surroundings. The area was quiet, with only the sound of the ducks at the ponds and the occasional cars that would pass by. He sat down at a bench and laid his head on his hand, looking out into the distance.
A couple minutes later, a young woman walked by with a net. She wore a yellow floral dress that reached down to her knees and a bow in her hair. Brian looked up and smiled as he saw her.
Brian loved going to the park for one reason only:her. He became infatuated ever since the first time he laid eyes on her. Ever since then, he made it his duty to go to the park every Sunday just to see her. He’d always admire the different dresses she’d wear, or the crop tops that showed off her belly button, which he found adorable. But what stayed consistent was that she always carried a net around with her. Brian had no clue what the net was for, though he didn’t judge her for it. It added to her beauty.
Despite him showing up every time she was there, the two of them never interacted. She was always too distracted running around with her net to notice him, while Brian would always try to build up the courage to talk to her, only to end up losing it. “Next time, I’ll get her next time,” he would tell himself, but every week was the same story. His nervousness always got the best of him.
The girl was running across the field, this time amongst a group of butterflies. She swung her net as she tried to catch one. Brian watched, his heart swelling as he saw butterflies swarming the most beautiful girl in the world. She finally caught one in her net, and she quickly ran out of the butterfly circle and sat on the grass with her net. She carefully pulled out the butterfly she caught and held it gently on her finger. Brian watched in awe as the monarch remained on her finger and didn’t fly away.
He wanted to go up and talk to her, let her know that he was impressed with how she caught the butterfly, or give her his phone number. But she looked so focused on the butterfly on her finger, and the last thing he wanted to do was scare it off. It was now or never, though. He had to do something quick.
Brian started walking towards her. In his head, he was reciting all the things he was going to say to her, but everything sounded wrong. He couldn’t let fear consume him, and the worst she could say was “no.”
He took a deep breath as he sat beside her. She didn’t look at him, as her gaze was still fixated on the monarch. Brian decided this was his time to speak up, even if it meant making a bad impression.
“H-hey, I think it’s pretty cool how you caught that butterfly,” he said.
“Oh thanks,” she said emotionlessly, still not looking at him.
“Yeah, not many people are able to do that. You know, since most butterflies fly away.”
“Mine never do.”
“How?”
“It’s my talent.”
Brian felt himself grow a bit annoyed that she still hasn’t looked at him or even given him an ounce of attention. He was unsure if to leave or if to keep the conversation going, considering her lackluster responses.
“Uh, are you here every Sunday afternoon?” Brian asked. He didn’t know if his question made him seem like a stalker.
“Yep.”
“So am I! It’s my day off of work.”
“Yeah, same.”
Brian looked to his side and saw a couple of purple flowers gathered in the grass. He pulled a few out and held them in front of her.
“You know, these flowers are just as beautiful as that butterfly.”
The proximity of the flowers caused the butterfly to fly from her finger onto the flowers and sit there. She finally looked up and finally looked at Brian. She looked at him from his face down to the flowers he was holding with the butterfly on top of it.
“You made it fly away,” she said, slightly bitter.
“It’s still here, it hasn’t left yet,” Brian said as he held the flowers out for her to get. She hesitantly reached out to grab them and held them against her.
“Out of all these lovely sights—the pond, the flowers, the butterflies, and the sky—nothing compares to you,” Brian said as he took another flower from the ground. “Can I?” he asked, gesturing towards her hair.
“Oh, yeah sure,” she replied, and he placed the flower in her hair, slightly pushing it back, revealing a blush that was previously hidden. The sight made Brian’s heart light up as he became hopeful. The girl stared at him, taking a closer look at his features. She started thinking that maybe this guy who complimented her could possibly be the man of her dreams. He was extremely pretty, and it made it better that her butterfly didn’t fly away at the sight of him.
“Well, I think I might leave now,” Brian said as he started to stand up but the girl pulled his arm.
“No, stay here. I really like your presence,” she said. Brian immediately sat back down at her words. There was no way he was going to leave right after she said that. She laid her head on Brian’s shoulder while holding her flowers and looking out into the distance. Brian smiled as he wrapped his arm around her. This could be the start of something beautiful.