"Two Sisters' Journey"

Near the tip of Southern Maryland, or in "Little America" as it is called, two sisters lived together. Their home was in Hollywood (no not the one with the movie stars). One day they decided it would be best for them to go on a journey. They decided to tour the great western United States. One sister had recently been diagnosed with a rare cancer, so they decided the trip might be theraputic.
On the first day they crossed West Virginia. The river had flooded and in some places ran parallel to the road. The great mountains rose up in the distance. West Virginia was filled with mountains and passes. Crossing over a bridge where the river crashed over the rocks, one sister (Aurora) remarked, "My how the river flows. It is just like life you know. Always changing."
Her sister Jessica agreed. Then they passed through where the houses were all in a row. In the yards lay scattered play toys. It almost looked as if the river could come up and sweep those houses away. Jessica thought what it might be like to live there--right on the river. It reminded her of the Mississippi in Huckleberry Finn. "Let's go dip our feet in the water," she suggested to Aurora.
But Aurora disagreed. "Look how dirty it is," she said. "There's no telling what could be in that water." Just as she said so, a large animal--what looked like could be the Loch Ness Monster--rose a tail out of the water.
"Ahhh!" Jessica screamed. The two sisters decided to journey elsewhere. So they crossed back to the east coast and went up there towards Maine. In New England the houses were more stately and square. They were all painted in red and blue colors, like patchwork. Jessica said "Let's go inside that craft store and buy something." So they went in. The cashier was a young woman with a huge cast over her leg. Aurora wondered how her smile could be so bright. The store was filled with all kinds of things--delicious candies, purses of bright colors made from fabric, and yarns of every color you could dream of. Aurora decided to buy some yarn. When she put the yarn down on the cashier's desk, the young woman with the cast suddenly burst into tears. Jessica asked what was wrong and the woman said her dog had died that morning. It reminded Jessica of her own dog----a mutt that the family had to put to sleep a year ago.
As they walked out of the store, a cool breeze blew over their faces. It reminded Aurora of the ocean breeze. Then the two sisters decided to head up to Acadia National Park, where the trees were in full bloom, bursting colors of red and orange and yellow. A placid lake lay outstretched in the middle of the Park. Jessica decided that the sisters should put a raft down on that lake and just relax. In the distance the mountains rose up behind them like great giants crouching. Aurora thought how nice it would be to lay back and feel the sun soaking through her, red hot on her temples.
But the sun didn't come out that day. Or the next or the next. There was nothing but dreary days once after the other.
Then the sisters headed down to New Mexico, where the plateaus spread one to another in a great expanse. They also saw the Grand Canyon. The Grand Canyon looks borne of an earthquake, where the tectonic plates below the earth's surface shifted, and left behind a huge crack. At the bottom is a sparkling blue line, stretched and winding like a piece of yarn. But the Grand Canyon is not just one crack in the earth. If you were to stand on the edge of the North Rim, you would see a maze of plateaus like checker boards--land and empty air and then more land and empty air. The canyons look painted, standing on the precipice, you get the feeling that something this massive cannot be touched or even felt. It's true that the Grand Canyon really is "grand." Jessica reached out her fingers a little, and they barely scraped the air that held the Grand Canyon's picture. Aurora noticed the sun dancing in irregular-shaped blotches on the canyon's red-rock walls.
The sisters were overwhelmed by all they had seen. A week had passed since they had left home. So they decided to go back home.
On the way, they stopped at a party for their whole family back in West Virginia. Now it was summer, and the sun beat down on them, making them itch in their starched clothes. At the party, a sudden rainstorm came up. The rain was thick and fell steady, not straight down, but in a sort of concave arc. But it was a warm sweet rain, and the two women were eager to bathe their faces in it.
Suddenly loud music from a neighbor interrupted the quiet scene. One of the uncles came out of the house and went next door to tell the neighbor to turn his music down.
But the neighbor would have none of it. Before anyone could blink an eye or shout "Got ya!," a fight had started. The two men were rolling around the grass which had turned to thick mud.

"The Yellow Butterfly"

When I watch the yellow butterfly’s wings move back and forth rapidly,
I think about the dependability of life,
like a heart steadily beating.

When I see the yellow butterfly land lightly and be still
I think of the brevity of life,
how we live only for a moment.

When I watch the yellow butterfly dip and dive through the air—
Cushioned by gravity—
I think life is like a thrill ride:
Making surprise turns but
held secure by the peaceful waters
in the butterfly’s background.