A thirty year old man is limping through the woods, with a hand to his gut. He falls to the ground, and drags his body over to the closest tree near him. He leans back against the tree, and takes a shaky breath. Through his blurry eyes, he sees the sun coming through, and birds flying above. 

 He looks back down at his hand, coated in blood. So messy. He can hear the people chasing him, getting closer and closer to where he is. He tries to push himself back off of the ground. When he is half way up, his legs give out from under him. He covers his curse so that he isn’t heard. He knows that he isn’t getting out of this forest alive.

 To his side, he sees a beautiful blue butterfly flying through the wind making its way down to him. While the man waits for either the butterfly or the men chasing him, he thinks over his life. Everything that he has done and not done. The first time he scored a soccer goal, at five, and his team cheered for him. When his parents gifted him a dog. The same parents that divorced each other, saying that his father has another family who his mother knew about, but never brought up. When he got an amazing score on his SAT. When he got accepted into his dream college, then having to say goodbye to his friends and family. His first party at college. Meeting his girlfriend, now wife, in their shared history class. Graduating with a job lined up, and his girlfriend working at the same place. Getting their first house together. The birth of their son, and all the amazing things that he has accomplished. 

 He looks down at the blood now coating his entire lower body, knowing that his wife and son are going to be worried sick about him. That they might not ever actually know what has happened to him. They might think that he left them. The man is trying to remember the last time he said ‘I love you’ to both of them.

 Startled by a sudden snap pulling him from his thoughts, he instinctively turns to look behind him. He clutches his stomach and lets out a groan, breathing heavily through his nose. His other hand grabs the ground, picking up dirt and leaves in his fist. He sees a bunny run past him in the corner of his eye. The noisy culprit.

 At least it is better than the screaming. Or the terror in the cashier’s eyes as he was held at gunpoint, pleading for the men to leave. He was holding his breath until the gunshot went off and the body hit the floor. When he gasped, that is when he made his greatest mistake.

 He looks up one last time, fighting to keep his eyes open. He sees that the delicate butterfly has landed on his hand. Its wings flutter a few times, showing the gorgeous blue array of  color. The man takes a long breath, closes his eyes, and the butterfly flies off.