The Butterscotch Butterfly (for my nephew, Kayden)

Once upon a time there lived a butterscotch butterfly with beautiful wings that shimmered in golden delight whenever the sunlight would hit them. He would spend his days fluttering from one flower to the next, and every time his magical feet would touch down, the flower would instantly turn into butterscotch. All the little creatures of the forest loved this. They would hurry over to where it landed and lick the sweet butterscotch treat that used to be a flower.

This made everyone happy, that is, except for the butterscotch butterfly. You see, this little magic butterfly had only one wish, and it wasn't to turn flowers into tasty treats. He wanted to race go-karts! All through the day and all through the night, the butterscotch butterfly would dream of racing the go-karts that zipped around the go-kart track in the field next to where he lived. Every weekend the human kids would show up with their parents, and every weekend those kids would laugh and laugh as they raced their little go-karts around that dirt track, lap after lap after lap. They had a lot of fun, so much fun, in fact, that the butterscotch butterfly couldn't think of anything else he would rather do.

So one day he decided to flutter out of the forest and tried catching one of the go-karts, but it was a sad day for the butterfly, for he flew much too slowly. No matter how hard or how fast he flapped his golden wings, he simply could not catch them. Saddened by this, he flew back into the forest and landed on a nearby flower, which instantly turned to butterscotch.

"Ho there, little butterfly," came a voice from up above. The butterfly looked up and saw a beautiful hawk perched on a tree branch high above his head. "You have a wonderful gift, little butterfly. You can turn flowers into candy," said the hawk.

The butterfly sat quietly for a minute, blinking his eyes before replying, "Yes it's true, I can turn flowers into candy, that's why they call me the butterscotch butterfly, but this is not the gift I wish to have, you see. I wish I could fly fast enough to race the go-karts!" he announced excitedly.

The hawk shuffled his feet, puffed out his feathers and ran his beak up & down his body a few times before answering the butterfly. "I know the go-karts you speak of, and yes, they are quite fast. Much too fast for you, little butterfly, but not too fast for me!"

At this, the butterfly got very excited. He flapped his wings and floated up, and fluttered over to a flower closer to the fast-flying hawk who could race with the go-karts. As he landed, that flower too, turned to candy, and the hawk swooped down from his branch and landed right next to him and started eating the butterscotch petals.

MUNCH, MUNCH, MUNCH...

"You know, they call me Mr. Hungry Hawk, because I love to eat! Especially candy!" the hawk said as he bit off a few more petals. "Mmmmm... this flower is very yummy! I'll tell you what, little butterfly, since you provided me with such a tasty treat, I will do the same for you." Mr. Hungry Hawk grabbed a leaf with his beak and wrapped it around his body. "There, hold onto the leaf and I will fly you to the go-kart track and you will surely win the race."

The butterscotch butterfly was very excited and quickly hopped onto the hungry hawk's back, "Okay, I'm ready to go!"

And at that, the hawk and the butterfly flew through the forest and found their way to where the go-karts were still zipping around the dirt track. Without hesitation, Mr. Hungry Hawk tucked in his wings and dove headfirst right into the race. Together, they curved and cornered, rolled and rallied their way past one go-kart after another. It was the best day of the butterfly's life! He was racing with the go-karts... and winning! Round and round they went, lap after lap after lap, until finally the checkered flag came out and the hawk and the butterfly blew through in first place.

"Yaaaaayeeeee! We did it, hawk, we did it!" exclaimed the butterfly, "thank you, thank you, thank you!" Caught up in the excitement of the moment, the little butterfly reached out and hugged Mr. Hungry Hawk around the neck, instantly turning him into butterscotch. "Oh dear, what have I done?"

A deep sadness fell upon the butterfly, seeing how he turned his new friend into candy. And as he turned away he heard a faint sound coming from inside the butterscotch hawk:  peck.. peck.. peck.. He listened closer and heard the sound get louder: PECK.. PECK.. PECK.. and then a beak broke through and out popped the hawk, covered in flakes of golden butterscotch! He had eaten his way through!

"Ah-ha, you see? I told you I was a hungry hawk!" And at that, the hawk and the butterfly flew back to the forest where they remained best friends forever.

THE END.