“They say butterflies can migrant thousands of miles.” She crouches over the cactus, holds her finger out, nudges for the monarch to climb aboard. “They’ll fly to the ends of the earth and never get tired.” She lightly brushes the edge of its frayed, discolored wing with her knuckle.
“That one looks like it’s traveled quite a distance.” He chisels away at the sand and sediment.
“A delicate fossil,” she draws the butterfly to her puckered lips, “guiding us to the biggest archeological discover on American soil.”
“Maybe he knows buddy inside.” He blows away dust, carefully strokes his brush inside the grooves on the roof of the sarcophagus. “What do you think these markings mean?”
“Maybe our friend here can translate.”
He chuckles a pigeon’s coo, steps back to admire his work. The ancient gravesite three quarters excavated. “It’s possible he not only traveled thousands of miles, but thousands of—”
“Years,” she whispered. She blew it a kiss, extended her arm. The butterfly lowered its wings atop the archaic coffin.
word count: 171
—Nortina
Flash Fiction for Aspiring Writers is a weekly challenge where you write a story in 100-150 words (give or take 25 words) using the provided photo prompt as inspiration.
Lovely Curses 
What a very sophisticated story, I love this! You have a vast imagination that you translated beautifully into words. Thank you!
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Thanks so much! 🙂
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A sarcophagus in, not just on, American soil?! That would be a big discover. I love how they’re so mystified and open to ponder how the butterfly could have traveled for thousands of years for all they knew. This is an excellent, imaginative, and unique take of the prompt.
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Wonderful story Nortina! Amazing that the butterfly led them to such a fantastic archeological find! A good thing they knew enough to follow the butterfly to this archeological site.
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It is quite the butterfly, that’s for sure! Thanks!
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