Anala was a bright child of 17 years. She attended academies and got great marks, being on the honor roll constantly. She had a promising future but one day her friend, Kimby the flutterby put Anala's brand new butterfly clips into Anala's hair and she became a ditz.
The butterflies wormed into Anala's brain and began to eat it. That night, when Anala tried to remove the butterfly clips, she found she couldn't-they seemed to have attached themselves to her permanently. Anala tried and tried to get them out but their furious claws gripped her hair maliciously and she left them where they were, finally giving up in the struggle to ostracize them from her.
The next day Anala came to school, her hair in a nice coil with butterflies glittering brightly from their perch. Anala did not seem like herself-she wore brilliant pink instead of her drab black garb that was her usual mode of dress. Anala was also wearing cosmetics, something else totally unlike her. What happened to Anala, Kimby wondered.
Anala sat down with much energy and began to babble happily about something she did at home the night before--the only problem was she was speaking too fast for anyone to understand her. She went on for a few minutes then noticed all her friends were dazed and stopped. "What?!" she asked a little too loudly, and the advisors at the next table glanced over curiously; Mr. Z looked startled.
Blushing, Anala covered her mouth and busied herself with other things. She soon wrote a massive amount of notes to all her friends--another thing she never does! Kimby looked at Anala suddenly and exclaimed, "Those butterflies wormed their way inside your head, Anala!!!" Anala looked a little pale after Kimby said this.
"What are you talking about?" Anala swallowed. Kimby looked at Anala for a few moments, as did everyone else at the lunch table. "I think Kimby is right," said Saph. Anala looked to Micki and she nodded in agreement. Anala gazed at all her friends, her eyes a bright blue compared to the usual grey. Finally Anala looked at Rosanna who was disagreeing with all the rest. She smiled, "I am glad at least someone is on my side."
Anala continued to ignore Kimby, Saph, Micki, and grandpa, eating her lunch happily. Rosanna and Anala talked about several things, including Hell, which is in Ms. Carnefice's basement. They spoke of stories they could co-write together and decided to meet at Rosanna's house to write them.
As they all readied to leave the lunch room, Kimby stopped Anala. "Ana, what is with you?" Anala shrugged her off and went to her next class, English with Mrs. Melly. Mrs. Melly was a fun teacher and she took off without answering Kimby. Upon rebuttal, Kimby found Rosanna and began to talk to her about Anala's unusual behavior.
Rosanna shrugged, "Maybe she just felt like changing." Kimby looked at Rosanna dubiously. "Ros, we both know she wouldn't do that overnight." Kimby pointed out. Rosanna shrugged again. "I have to get to class, Kimby. See you later." Rosanna took off for class and Kimby climbed the steps to her next class, a puzzled look on her face.
In homeroom, Anala was talking to their advising teacher, Mrs. Lei. Mrs. Lei told Anala, "You should face reality once in a while!" Anala looked at her and grinned eerily, "I don't like your reality. Mine is prettier than yours." Mrs. Lei laughed, "Isn't that the truth!" And Anala bent over and signed out to go to Mrs. Urbanski's class to meet in their regular after-class meeting spot. "Well, I guess everything hasn't changed with you." Kimby quipped as they walked inside.
"Who said I really changed?" Anala asked as she sat down at the customary table by the window. Kimby didn't answer as Anala pulled out a book. "Mrs. Malatesta, don't you think Anala is acting quite strangely?" Kimby asked as Anala read the poetry in the book, waiting for Rosanna since Kimby and Anala were a little early.
"What do you mean?" Mrs. Malatesta asked. Anala snickered as Rosanna walked in. "Oh, I watched TV, too!" Anala interjected, Kimby knew Anala did not ordinarily watch television.
6:40 AM 6/9/00
The Butterflies and Ms. Carnefice
Rosanna took Kimby aside while Anala went on to her van to go home. "Kimby..." Rosanna started. "What?" Kimby asked. "I've seen those butterflies before..." Kimby paled a little. "You have?" she asked Rosanna. Rosanna only nodded.
"Where have you seen those butterflies before, Rosanna?" Kimby asked, not really ready to hear Rosanna's answer. "They were in THE BASEMENT!" Kimby frowned at Rosanna and said, "I've got to be going home now, you crazy cat." And Kimby left the school grounds, trying to get away from "Crazy Ro."
"Fine, don't listen to me," Rosanna muttered as Kimby trotted off. "I'll just have to kill you." She muttered playfully to the retreating back. Rosanna went home to look in her accumulated tomes of Hell. She flipped through the books until she found the butterflies, which looked exactly like the ones in Anala's hair. They glittered green and silver on the page.
"Uh-huh!! I told her, I did!" She shut the book and began to plot to save Anala's life from the butterflies. After sufficient forethought, Rosanna phoned Jenny, who usually sleeps on her floor at night. Jenny was getting ready to come see Rosanna so she left after the call. Jenny arrived at Rosanna's house and took out her overnight bag.
Rosanna was ready to go out and Jenny looked at her, obviously puzzled at Rosanna's sweatshirt and jeans. "Are we going somewhere, Rosanna?" she asked, in a daze. "We are going to go save Anala," Rosanna declared forcefully, "from the Evil Butterflies of Hell." Jenny smiled and said, "We can save Anala? From BUTTERFLIES? And you call ME a ditz?"
"Only when you wear your hair those funny, freaky ways." Rosanna declared and picked up her keys. Jenny followed in disbelief. Rosanna ventured forth into the darkness, Jenny close behind, and at Rosanna's insistance, Jenny got into the driver's seat and they drove to Anala's house.
Jenny and Rosanna walked up to Anala's door and knocked insistently. Anala opened the door and saw them. She fixed a smile on her face and invited them in. "Hello Ro, Jenny." They smiled back as they walked into the house. "Anala, we have to talk to you." Anala nodded and sat down at the table to her dinner. Rosanna looked around. "Anala, where is everybody?" Jenny asked. Anala ate a mouthful of stew instead of answering Jenny.
"My brother is asleep, my parents are out. Do you want anything to eat?" Anala asked politely.
