Chapter 4: The red mothman

I still remember it, that first butterfly. It was a new life, an unexpected second chance of life, reborn as a human girl. The first meeting with George was that we both chased after that first butterfly. My brain hadn’t fully grown at the time, so I only though pretty and friend at the time, and as we grew older, our friendship only grew stronger. Never quite crossing into lovers territory though.

It all ended on a winter night. A traffic accident is the conclusion I’ve come to. One moment I was playing on my phone in the backseat, the next I’m laying on the ground looking at the all too pretty starry sky. Pretty sure my brain had been damaged at that point, as I was seeing things that I’m pretty sure didn’t exist. No Idea who’s fault it was, except it probably wasn’t mine. 

After that immensely beautiful sight, I got a new surprise, a third chance. Hatching from an egg as a larva. Not a small one, like the ones from earth, but a massive one. And I lived like that for a few years, learning and being cared for by my family. And eating. So much eating. We grow fast, you know. I basically ten doubled my weight the first couple of years, and if you think human puberty is hard, it has nothing on moth puberty. Pupating is a hell of an experience. Spend a month hallucinating as your body liquifies and is rebuilt. Everyone comes out from that little different, some gain insight they didn’t have before, some lose parts of themselves, and I remembered George, and how much I actually miss him. It’s like there is a deep hole in my soul.

After digging my way out of the pupae, I might have gone on a bender, doing it with as many girls as I could, yes, I’m a guy this time, not that I knew before pupating. And I’m glad. We men get all the glamorous colors, my wings are this bright iridescent red that I wouldn’t have traded for anything. Shame we only live half as long as the women.

Once I was done with the post pupating bender, which is common enough to have a dedicated word, I mellowed out and joined the adult world. Lots of paperwork, since I work as a secretary, slash, eyecandy. It pays well, and I get access to computers. The computers are about mid nineteenth century earth equivalent, just before becoming household items. As far as I’m aware, they work on a base three system, which may or may not be the case on earth. I didn’t bother learning about it back then, focusing on the things I liked doing in my second life. This time around, I’m into the sciences. Too bad us men lack the lifespan to reach the top, but I’m gonna try, hence the secretary position. I get pretty much all the access, despite being young.

With two previous lives to lean on, I’m considered one of the smart ones, with some of the older women in the institute claiming it’s a shame that I came out a man. I don’t really mind, and will do the best I can with it. Afterall, at this point, it’s likely that I’ll get a fourth chance.