A Neat Career.
A story about Thomas.
THOMAS
Okay.
My college application required a sample of
My writing, a short story, and I had nothing.
I'd been writing things down for years
But nothing resembled an actual story.
So, in a panic I went to find Alvin
At the store to tell me what to do.
There's gotta be thousands of stories in that head of yours, Tom.
Just pick one and write it down.
So I picked one and wrote it down.
Three hundred and fifty words amounting to,
I suspected, a pile of cr*p. So,
I decided to read it to Alvin and let him decide if it was
Any good at all.
(Thomas reads.)
The Butterfly. By Thomas Weaver.
The Butterfly?
Yeah. In a far of land there lived a beautiful butterfly
In a kingdom full of blossom covered trees
And winding through this paradise, a river danced along
And played with the constant summer breeze
The butterfly found a tiny branch at the riverside
And watched the water rushing who-knows-where
Carefully he sheltered from the power of the breeze
For surely it could toss him through the air
Im a butterfly, he said, trivial and small
And in the greater scheme of things I dont mean much at all
So Ill flap my wings to stretch myself and just enjoy the view
Im a butterfly, what more can I do?
One afternoon, the butterfly asked the river
Madam, what makes you hurry so?
What splendid destination are you rippling toward?
Where, oh, where do you go?
The river said, Im headed for the ocean
And summer breeze inspires me to race
My friend, youd love the ocean, its remarkable to see
Wont you join our friendly chase?
Im a butterfly, he said, trivial and small
And in the greater scheme of things I dont mean much at all
So Ill flap my wings to stretch myself and just enjoy the view
Im a butterfly, what more can I do?
So the butterfly, he dreamed of the ocean
He longed to flutter high above the seas
But there are dangers in the sky for a tiny butterfly
So from his branch he asked a question of the breeze
What makes you chase the river towards the ocean?
And the breeze told him a most amazing thing
Im simply made up of the currents in the air
That start from the movement of your wing, your tiny wing
Youre a butterfly my friend, powerful and strong
And Im grateful for the way youve always hurried me along
When you flap your wings to stretch
Yourself, it might seem small to you
But you change the world with everything you do
So he stretched his wings and took off from the safety of his tree
And the butterfly finally saw the sea