Something a little different this time. A short story.

Lily and Destin: A Love Story

“Mom, you don’t even know him!” she said, her eyes filling with tears.

Lily and her mother, Sophie, were arguing again about her boyfriend, Destin.

“You’re a monarch. He’s a spider. It’s just not right!” she said, more loudly than she intended. Sophie’s voice softened. “It’s dangerous, honey. I worry about you.”

Lily wished she could convince her mother that she had him all wrong. She wanted to tell her how good he was to her. How he listened to her—really listened—and made her feel special. How he told her she was beautiful every single day. How he gave her little gifts for no reason—a crumpled housefly, a moth, a mosquito. She wanted to explain all this to her mother, but she knew she wouldn’t understand. How could she? Her mom was hopelessly out of touch. She was so old—almost five weeks old!

Lily ran to Destin and found him working on his web. He held his long arms out to her. “What is it, sweetie? What’s the matter?” He was as warm and welcoming as a sunbeam.

She cuddled up to him and laid her head on his cephalothorax. “My mother,” she sighed.

“Oh,” he said softly.

They’d been through this countless times, and Destin knew there was nothing he could do, nothing he could say. Sophie had hated him from day one, and she gave no indication that she would ever change her mind. They lay there in silence for a long moment. Suddenly remembering, he said, “Hey, I got you something.” He handed her a package wrapped in silk. Lily was a picky eater—she’d eaten nothing but milkweed her whole life, in fact—but Destin’s precious presents always warmed her heart.

“Thank you, darling,” she said, clutching the mummified mosquito and smiling through her tears. Someday soon, she knew, they would be together, and no one would be able to stop them. “Oh, Destin, I can’t wait ’til we’re older. I can’t wait ’til we can get married.”

He squeezed her tight. “I’ll be the happiest spider on the planet.”

Lily imagined their future home, full of love and laughter and bustling with children like a hive full of honey bees. She gazed into his eight dreamy black eyes and blurted, “I want to have three hundred babies with you!”

“Yeah?” he said with a grin, hoping she didn’t catch the twinge of disappointment in his face. Having kids with Lily was something he wanted more than anything, but he had always dreamed of having a large family.

Just then, Lily got the urge to be alone. Strange thoughts were creeping into her head, and she needed to sort things out. She crawled off, found a quiet space in the garden, made a secret hideaway, and sealed herself in. She felt like she was in a fog. Days went by. A week.

On the tenth day, she emerged. She yawned and looked around with new eyes. Something was different. “Sweet Mother of Milkweed!” she exclaimed. “I got my wings!” She flexed her new appendages and took flight, heading, of course, for the viburnum where Destin lived.

He looked up. “Well, hello, sweet pea! Long time no see.” He cocked his head and gave her an inquisitive look. “Hmm…” he said, scratching his chin. “Have you done something different with your antennae?”

Lily giggled. “I got my wings!”

“I can see that,” he said with a broad smile. “You look beautiful, babe. Gorgeous. I mean, wow. Just—wow!”

Lily was pleased with her new look, but mostly she was happy because it meant she wasn’t a kid anymore. She was that much closer to being able to spend all of her days with the love of her life. Being able to fly wasn’t too shabby either.

She started going to the nectar garden. Her best friend, Emma, had also gotten her wings, and they met there every day to sip verbena and chat.

One day, Emma made a startling confession. “Lily, I got the strangest idea last night. It came out of nowhere, and now I can’t get it out of my head.”

Lily had never seen Emma look so serious. “What is it?” she asked, not sure that she wanted to hear the answer.

“I don’t know where it came from, but I can’t stop thinking about it. I think it’s something I have to do. I can’t fight it anymore.” Her heart was beating like a hummingbird’s, and so was Lily’s. “I… I want to go to Mexico for the winter.”

“Mexico!” Lily cried. “How far is that?”

“It’s about 2,000 miles,” said Emma.

“Have you ever been there?”

“Well, no.”

“Do you know how to get there?”

“I guess I’ll figure it out.”

“So, let me get this straight. You want to fly 2,000 miles to a place you’ve never been to, and you don’t even know how to get there?”

“Well, when you put it like that, it does sound kinda crazy,” Emma admitted.

“I’ll say.” Lily was troubled by her friend’s news. Where did this ridiculous notion come from? It didn’t make any sense. She couldn’t imagine leaving the garden and traveling all that way to a place she’d never even seen. She couldn’t imagine leaving her family and friends. And she especially couldn’t imagine leaving her true love.

When Lily went to the nectar garden the next day, she found Emma there, talking excitedly with several of their friends. Nobody could believe it, but it was true. What were the chances? None of the monarchs had been able to sleep the night before. They’d tossed and turned and fretted and fussed, and all had come to the same conclusion: they must go to Mexico for the winter.

Lily felt sick. Not because she was going to miss her friends, but because she had been up all night wrestling with the same idea. It was a crazy idea, but it had burrowed into her head like a worm into an acorn and had become impossible to dislodge. She knew she had to go to Mexico, too.

The group made plans to depart in a few days. Lily got ready to leave the only home she’d ever known and the only boy she’d ever loved. She cried and cried.

She said goodbye to her mother. Sophie wanted to make the journey, too, but she was too old and too tired. She worried about her daughter making the long trip, but she felt in her heart it was the right thing for her to do. And, it would get her mind off that boy.

Destin.

Lily spent those last few days by his side, savoring every moment. They took long walks. They watched the sun set. They danced and drank. They laughed and cried. They revisited their favorite places. When at last they fell silent and looked into one another’s eyes, Lily tried to tell Destin why she had to go and how much it was tearing her apart.

“—Don’t,” Destin said. “You don’t have to explain.”

“You know I’ll be back in the spring—” she said.

“—Don’t.”

The next morning, Lily awoke from a surprisingly sound sleep. They would be leaving early, as soon as the sun had warmed their wings. She sighed and stretched, and flew to Destin’s viburnum one last time.

Tears welling in her eyes, she strayed off-course and landed in his web. “Oh, Destin, I messed up your web. I’m sorry.”

He said nothing.

“Honey, I got stuck in your web. Can you help me get out?”

Still he didn’t respond. Perhaps he hadn’t heard her.

“Babe? I’m stuck in your web.”

“That’s unfortunate,” he said, as his fangs sank into her thorax.