"Springer-ChasingButterfly" - читать интересную книгу автора (Springer Jan)

of her way. When she gets home, clouds have come out of somewhere and covered
the sun. No more butterfly shadows. The dog is sitting by her front door like a
locked-out child.

Nona lets him in, lays her mail on the kitchen table to be enjoyed over lunch,
and finds the big butterfly book. It is getting old, like her. Its green cloth
cover is frayed, but its color plates are as bright as ever. She opens it and
almost immediately identifies the leopard-spotted butterfly as a Gulf
Fritillary, but then forgets to look up the elegant black one with blue borders.
Her researches stray to the tropical butterflies with their iridescent colors,
their strangely shaped wings. There are pictures of butterflies from Burma,
Paraguay, the Solomon Islands, the Ivory Coast, Ceylon. Faraway places.

She will clear the owl figurines off the mantel, she decides. Owls are not so
wise. Probably they worry about money. She will give the owls away, and start
collecting porcelain butterflies, if there is such a thing. Perhaps the Franklin
Mint has something. It does not have to be the actual butterflies. It can be
butterfly vases, or mugs, or prints.

Not quite accidentally Nona leaves the butterfly book lying out and open. She is
feeling just a little weightless, lightheaded -- it must be time for something.
Lunch, that's what. Lunch, and her mail. She makes her way into the kitchen,
where she microwaves herself Cup-A-Soup. When she sits, the dog lies at her feet
and does not pester to be fed. He has good manners. Strange that such a nice dog
should end up at the pound.

As Nona eats she opens the brightly colored envelope, looks at its brochure--
turquoise-blue Caribbean seas, an Aztec festival in Mexico--and sends off her
Grand Prize Entry at once, sticking her tokens on squares that say "Five-Piece
Cordovan Luggage Set" and "World of Wonders Encyclopedia" and putting the cost
on her MasterCard, since the last time she tried to use the Visa she was told it
was full. She seals the envelope and stamps it from the postage supply she keeps
on the table right along with the sugar. The great-grandchildren are coming over
this afternoon, and they will be glad to mail it for her and not tattle to the
adults.

She opens the lovely parcel-brown Carol Wright envelope and looks through the
offers. A 1248 Piece Personalized Stationery Set, only $7.95. Nona has never
understood why they call it that, stationery. It's like writing letters means
you're not going anywhere. Limited Edition Endangered Species Decorator Plates--
they are nice, but they are not butterflies. She is looking for butterflies.
Lose Weight Overnight Vitamin E Nighttime Diet--she does not need that, she has
always been thin enough to blow away. Cascade Dishwashing Detergent For Spotless
Dishes Sweepstakes She is just about to read the Easy Directions, Enter Now, No
Purchase Required, when she sees on the next page: Breakthrough In Technology!
Indoor TV Dish Antenna, only $19.95.

Now that is something worthwhile. When she was a youngster, which somehow seems
closer all the time instead of farther away, the only way to go anywhere was by
horse and buggy, Heaven was the half-day trip to the county seat for the Fourth