The Butterfly Woman’s Gift of a Child

My mother was skilled at raising butterflies and owned a butterfly house.

The women in our village had trouble conceiving. If their husbands spent one night in the butterfly house, their wives would be pregnant within days.

After my eldest sister died, my second sister became Mother’s successor.

That night, Mother fastened a pollination pouch over my sister’s mouth, turning her into a butterfly maiden who bestowed fertility.

The village chief’s son became the first man my sister helped conceive a child.

Angry that Mother favored her, I sneaked into the butterfly house,

but what I saw there made my blood run cold.