Oneshot

"Brother! Look!" A small girl ran up the front porch stairs to a little boy four years older than her with a butterfly net held to her head, pinning down a trembling butterfly.

The boy looked up from his book indifferently. "Just a butterfly, let it go."

"It's not just a butterfly! It's a blue monarch butterfly. It represents love!" The girl slowly lifted the net on her head and gently grabbed the butterfly's wings, ensuring that it wouldn't escape.

"Stop running around, your heart's already weak as it is. Do you want to faint again?" The boy, knowing that he won't be able to continue reading, put down his book with a sigh.

"I heard that monarch butterflies carry messages from the dead, maybe mom and dad are using the blue monarch butterfly to send their love to us!" Ignoring her brother's words, the girl spoke with shining eyes.

"Then you should let it go, it's almost winter, the butterfly should be migrating soon. You wouldn't want mom and dad's message to die because of you right?" The boy spoke carelessly.

"Yeah, you're right. The butterfly should go where it's supposed to go." The girl nodded seriously. The butterfly, now set free, fluttered away.

A car pulled into the driveway and a middle aged man stepped out.

"Uncle! You're back!" The girl jumped into her uncle's open arms.

"How's my cute little niece been doing? Still watching butterflies?" The man ruffled the girl's hair fondly. "No! I caught one for the first time today! I was standing still and it landed on my head!"

"That's good. I've got good news for you, the hospital called and you can go for the operation now. You'll be able to run around freely like other kids soon!"

"Wow really? That's great! Let's go! I want to surprise auntie when we come back!" The girl grabbed her uncle's sleeves and tried to drag him into the car.

"Am I allowed to come?" The boy asked.

"Why not? But you'll have to wait for a long time." The man chuckled, pulling both his niece and nephew into the car.

***

"I'm scared… what if the operation fails?" Near the operation room, the girl looked at her brother.

"Weren't you oh so cheerful about this a few minutes earlier?" The boy asked sarcastically. Then, looking at his little sister's teary eyes, he sighed. "Don't worry, didn't I tell you that I'd protect you for a lifetime in mom and dad's place? It'll be fine. I promise. Your heart is getting reborn, just like how a caterpillar becomes a butterfly."

"Mmm. I'll become a very pretty butterfly." The girl tightly hugged her brother.

"Just like a butterfly." She softly said to herself as she was escorted into the operation room.

***

"You will need to stay in the hospital for a few days for us to monitor your body's reaction to the new heart but so far, everything is alright. If this continues, you will be discharged from the hospital in three to four days." The girl's doctor said.

"Thank you. Thank you so much." The girl's uncle said. The girl's brother nodded vigorously, too choked up to speak.

"I'm fine. I feel better than I've been in the ten years of my life." The girl broke out into a huge grin.

Time passed by quickly. In a few days, the girl was standing outside of the hospital with a nurse. She was waiting outside for her uncle to pick her up.

"Brother!" The little girl saw her brother walking up to her, smiling happily.

"Where's uncle?" The girl asked.

"I wanted to pick you up. Uncle is over there buying hot chocolate to celebrate your recovery. Don't you see him over there?" The boy pointed to a cafe's window across the street, where the girl's uncle could be seen sitting at a table with two steaming mugs.

"I see him! I see him!" The girl waved excitedly at her uncle, who smiled at her and pointed at the mugs.

The streetlight turned green. The siblings walked across the road towards the cafe when suddenly, a harsh honking sound enveloped the pair's ears.

"Brother watch out!" Instinctively, the girl pushed her brother out of the car's way.

The boy fell on the sidewalk as he heard the crash behind him. A soft thud followed. Horrified, he stiffly turned around.

"Sis?"

What he saw was his little sister's broken body in a pool of crimson blood.

"Sister!" The boy ran to his sister's side. Time seemed to stop as she lifted her small hand to touch his cheeks, trying to wipe his tears away.

"Don't…worry… I'll.. send…butterfly…later…" Blood spilled out of the weakly smiling girl's lips as she whispered her last words. Her hand fell lifelessly to the ground. The boy was in shock as everything started to blur except for his sister's body. He couldn't hear the driver of the car get out, his uncle sprinting out of the cafe, and police sirens blaring as they rushed to the site.

Then everything went black.

***

The little boy, now a man, watched the monarch butterflies flying away. "Ah, it's almost winter again."

Even as years pass by, he still remembers that smiling little girl who loved watching butterflies.

Sister, did you know? Every year, I watch the butterflies, waiting for your message.