Magic

Aunt Jennie was my favorite Aunt, not because she was rich but because I could tell she really liked me. She paid more attention to me than any of my other Aunts or Uncles. Others were put off by her eccentric ways, but I adored everything about her.

I wasn’t so naive as to believe everything she said, but I stored everything she said in the back of my mind so I could give it the attention it deserved when the appropriate time came. Many things she told me would require one believe in magic, which made me skeptical, because to me magic is just someone performing a trick and I thought anyone could do a trick if properly trained.

Today, Aunt Jennie got her wish, she is being buried by the big oak tree that is located in her spacious back yard. It took a special permit from the city council and a document stating her house would be turned over to the local historical society, but it meant she would get her dying wish.

I reminisced on one of the last stories she told me, about how she really wasn’t dying, but she was going to be transformed, then she whispered in my ear what she would become.

I watched as her casket was lowered into her grave. The moment was one of silence and reverence.

Once her casket was lowered an audible gasp escaped my mouth, because a single butterfly emerged from her grave. I smiled because I knew her transformation was complete.