Pearl, Our Butterfly
English EDITION Pearl, Our Butterfly Tuula Pere Catty Flores W ickWick
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English<br />
EDITION<br />
<strong>Pearl</strong>,<br />
<strong>Our</strong> <strong>Butterfly</strong><br />
Tuula Pere<br />
Catty Flores<br />
W<br />
ickWick
<strong>Pearl</strong>, <strong>Our</strong> <strong>Butterfly</strong>
<strong>Pearl</strong>, <strong>Our</strong> <strong>Butterfly</strong><br />
Story by Tuula Pere<br />
Illustrations by Catty Flores<br />
Layout by Peter Stone<br />
English translation by Mirka Pohjanrinne<br />
Edited in English by Susan Korman<br />
ISBN 978-952-357-070-2 (Hardcover)<br />
ISBN 978-952-357-069-6 (Paperback)<br />
ISBN 978-952-325-924-9 (ePub)<br />
Second edition<br />
Copyright © 2019 Wickwick Ltd<br />
Published 2019 by Wickwick Ltd<br />
Helsinki, Finland<br />
Originally published in Finland by Wickwick Ltd in 2019<br />
Finnish “Helmi, perhosemme”, ISBN 978-952-325-423-7 (Hardcover), ISBN 978-952-325-923-2 (ePub)<br />
English “<strong>Pearl</strong>, <strong>Our</strong> <strong>Butterfly</strong>”, ISBN 978-952-325-424-4 (Hardcover), ISBN 978-952-325-924-9 (ePub)<br />
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in<br />
any form or by any means, mechanical, electronic, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written<br />
permission of the publisher Wickwick Ltd. The only exception is brief quotations in printed articles and reviews. For<br />
details and written permissions, contact rights@wickwick.fi.<br />
Wickwick books are available at special discounts when purchased in quantity for premiums and promotions as<br />
well as fundraising or educational use. Special editions can also be created to specification. For details, contact<br />
specialsales@wickwick.fi.
English EDITION<br />
<strong>Pearl</strong>, <strong>Our</strong> <strong>Butterfly</strong><br />
Tuula Pere • Catty Flores<br />
W<br />
ickWick<br />
Children’s Books fromthe Heart<br />
1
Jacob was an eager little schoolboy. His days<br />
were filled with all sorts of hustle and bustle.<br />
The schoolyard was a noisy beehive of activity, with<br />
children scampering about here and there. Jacob loved<br />
it. At times, he shouted so loudly at recess, the teacher<br />
came up to him .<br />
“Do you have something special on your mind? Is that<br />
why you’re shouting so loud? I’m sure even the little<br />
birds in the trees are a bit scared,” the teacher said.<br />
“I have to make noise here. At home, my little sister<br />
<strong>Pearl</strong> is so sick that she can’t stand any loud noises,”<br />
Jacob explained.<br />
“Then it’s good that we have our big<br />
schoolyard,” the teacher said, smiling<br />
at Jacob. “We have plenty of space<br />
for a lot of noise.”<br />
2
3
4
Even before <strong>Pearl</strong> was born, the family knew she<br />
was not going to be quite like other children. <strong>Pearl</strong><br />
needed help with everything. To Jacob, the saddest<br />
thing of all was to see how sick his sister felt sometimes.<br />
At such times, the big brother would put his little chair<br />
next to <strong>Pearl</strong>’s crib and stroke her from between the<br />
crib’s bars.<br />
“It’s all right. It’s just me, Jacob. Listen, I learned a new<br />
song at school.”<br />
When her brother started singing, <strong>Pearl</strong>’s moaning<br />
quieted. She seemed to focus on listening, even though<br />
every now and then, she turned her head restlessly<br />
from side to side. Her big eyes looked somewhere far<br />
away.<br />
5
In the spring, Jacob’s class learned all about the life of butterflies. On<br />
a large table, the teacher placed beautiful pictures of butterflies.<br />
Everyone got to choose one for art class. All the other children had<br />
already made their picks and returned to their seats. Now they were<br />
planning what kind of a butterfly they would make out of modeling<br />
clay and silk paper. But Jacob stood frozen, unable to decide.<br />
“What kind of a butterfly are you looking for?” The teacher had come to<br />
stand next to Jacob.<br />
“One that has big and beautiful eyes, just like my sister <strong>Pearl</strong>.”<br />
“Butterflies have compound eyes, which are quite dif ferent from ours.<br />
With them, they can see a special kind of light that is not visible to<br />
people,” the teacher explained.<br />
“A bit like <strong>Pearl</strong>. Except that <strong>Pearl</strong>’s eyes are more beautiful,” Jacob said<br />
quietly.<br />
6
7
Jacob spent a lot of time at Grandma’s, as Mom and<br />
Dad were of ten at doctor appointments with his<br />
little sister.<br />
“Why must they take <strong>Pearl</strong> to the hospital all the time?<br />
Why can’t the doctors come to our house?” Jacob kept<br />
asking.<br />
8
“They are specialists, doctors who work only at the<br />
hospital. <strong>Pearl</strong> goes to see them every once in a while,<br />
so that she can gain strength to stay at home again,”<br />
Grandma explained.<br />
“I don’t think those doctors are any good if they can’t<br />
cure <strong>Pearl</strong>!” Jacob felt upset.<br />
“There are some illnesses that can’t be cured, and some<br />
defects that can’t be fixed. That’s just the way life is.”<br />
Grandma sighed and stroked Jacob’s hair.<br />
9
Summer was drawing nearer. Jacob’s friends were<br />
excitedly talking about their holiday plans. Some were<br />
heading to their summer cottages, while others were going<br />
away on a trip. “What is our family going to do this summer?”<br />
Jacob asked his parents.<br />
“We’ll see. It’s a bit hard to make any plans now that <strong>Pearl</strong> is<br />
so sick,” Mom replied.<br />
“But we’ll come up with something. There are plenty of nice<br />
things to do here in our town,” Dad said, trying to reassure<br />
him. “And you and Grandma can go away somewhere<br />
together if you like.”<br />
“I don’t want to go away without you. I want to be<br />
near <strong>Pearl</strong> too,” Jacob said.<br />
10
11
12
<strong>Pearl</strong> had to go to the hospital more of ten. Fear<br />
crept into Jacob’s mind. What if <strong>Pearl</strong> doesn’t have<br />
the strength to come back home anymore? he thought.<br />
Actually, he wasn’t sure if his sister was strong enough<br />
to even breathe much longer. It was such a scary<br />
thought that he tried to forget about it.<br />
Jacob didn’t want to talk about his fear to Mom and<br />
Dad. They were already so worried about <strong>Pearl</strong>. Luckily,<br />
it was dif ferent at Grandma’s, where there was no<br />
need to fuss or hurry.<br />
“Grandma, what is hospice care?” Jacob asked.<br />
“Oh, my dear boy. How should I explain it to you . . .? I<br />
guess you’ve heard your dad and mom talk about your<br />
sister’s treatment? Why don’t you come over here and<br />
sit next to me?”<br />
Jacob sat on the sofa in Grandma’s arms.<br />
13
14
Grandma was good at explaining dif ficult things.<br />
However, hospice care was probably the hardest<br />
thing anyone had ever explained to Jacob.<br />
“When someone is very sick and doesn’t have much<br />
time lef t, it’s important to make sure the patient feels<br />
as comfortable as possible. That’s what they do at the<br />
hospice,” Grandma explained. “It’s a home for very sick<br />
patients.”<br />
“But <strong>Pearl</strong> has a home with us!” Jacob insisted. “I can<br />
make her comfortable too, as much as she needs!”<br />
“I’m sure you can. And there’s no one who can do it<br />
better than you. We’ve all seen it— <strong>Pearl</strong> always calms<br />
down when you are near and sing to her,” Grandma<br />
said. “But there are other things that <strong>Pearl</strong> needs now<br />
to make her as comfortable as possible. At home, we<br />
don’t have such medicine and treatment.”<br />
“Can I go and sing to her at the hospice?” Jacob had<br />
tears in his eyes.<br />
“Of course! Everyone will love to hear your songs there,”<br />
Grandma said, reassuring him.<br />
15
It was a strange spring, a spring of joy and<br />
sorrow.<br />
At school, Jacob was having the greatest time. His<br />
class arranged a butterfly exhibition. The butterflies<br />
everyone had made were placed on a window seat, and<br />
the windowpanes were decorated with paper flowers.<br />
Jacob had made a peacock butterfly, which had big<br />
colorful spots on its wings. They looked like eyes.<br />
“You can’t see with those eyes, but they are so pretty!”<br />
Jacob told his friends all about the markings on the<br />
wing. “The teacher has promised that I can take my<br />
butterfly to my sister <strong>Pearl</strong> at the hospice. I can’t wait<br />
to show it to her!”<br />
Af ter the winter, nature awakened to new life, but<br />
Jacob’s family was getting ready to say good-bye to<br />
little <strong>Pearl</strong>. Mom or Dad went to the hospice every day<br />
to be by her side.<br />
On some days, Jacob went<br />
along to visit <strong>Pearl</strong> with his<br />
parents and Grandma.<br />
16
17
18
The big brother looked at his feverish little sister<br />
lying in the hospital bed, covered in blankets.<br />
“We should take of f all the blankets so that it’s easier<br />
for <strong>Pearl</strong> to take wing,” Jacob said.<br />
“What do you mean?” Dad said, startled. “<strong>Pearl</strong> doesn’t<br />
know how to fly.”<br />
“I have a feeling that she will soon. When she’s covered<br />
in blankets like that, she looks just like a caterpillar in<br />
its chrysalis,” Jacob explained. “Caterpillars stay in the<br />
chrysalis till they are ready.”<br />
“I think I know what you mean,” Grandma said. “In her<br />
own way, <strong>Pearl</strong> is making herself ready. Soon it will be<br />
time for her to fly away from her chrysalis.”<br />
“When she takes wing, she’s going to feel so much<br />
better!” Jacob burst out. He could no longer hold back<br />
his tears.<br />
19
Soon the saddest day of the spring came. Jacob and<br />
the rest of the family were standing beside <strong>Pearl</strong>’s<br />
bed. Her fever went up, and her breathing grew weaker<br />
and weaker.<br />
“Can’t anyone help <strong>Pearl</strong> anymore?” Jacob asked,<br />
alarmed.<br />
“We are all near your sister. She is not alone. I’m sure<br />
that makes her feel good,” Grandma said quietly.<br />
“Grandma, why is life so short for some people?” Jacob<br />
asked.<br />
“Nobody knows, that’s just the way it is. Every life is<br />
dif ferent.”<br />
“I’m so happy you’ve had such a long life, Grandma!<br />
Otherwise, you wouldn’t be here next to me now.”<br />
20
21
22
Jacob walked to the window. He looked out into<br />
the sunshine and thought about all the butterflies<br />
flying in nature in the summer. Perhaps <strong>Pearl</strong> would<br />
be flying with them, enjoying summer in a new way.<br />
Silence fell on the room. <strong>Pearl</strong> had stopped breathing.<br />
Mom pressed her head on the pillow next to her<br />
daughter, and Dad was sitting beside her. Jacob felt<br />
strange when nobody said anything.<br />
“Has <strong>Pearl</strong> taken wing now?” Jacob whispered to<br />
Grandma.<br />
“Yes, she has. It was her time to go.”<br />
“I’ll open the window. I’d like to have some summer<br />
wind in this room. I’m sure <strong>Pearl</strong> would love it too,”<br />
Jacob said.<br />
Jacob opened the window, and then the wind threw<br />
it open wider. In the warm breeze, Jacob’s butterfly<br />
waved its silk paper wings.<br />
“Look, the butterfly is flying!” Jacob said, delighted.<br />
23
It was hard to say the last good-bye to <strong>Pearl</strong>. Little by<br />
little, her belongings were taken out of the nursery.<br />
But the photographs on the tables and shelves<br />
reminded Jacob of the time they had together.<br />
That summer, af ter his sister’s death, Jacob spent a lot<br />
of time with Grandma wandering in nature. Together<br />
they watched butterflies and remembered <strong>Pearl</strong>.<br />
“We will never forget <strong>Pearl</strong>, will we? And it won’t be like<br />
she never even existed, will it? I don’t want that!” Jacob<br />
said.<br />
“Love will never be forgotten. It will live on in your<br />
heart,” Grandma replied.<br />
24
Jacob kept the butterfly he had made as his treasure<br />
for many more years. In due time, it broke and had<br />
to be thrown away. Yet Jacob carried the memory of<br />
<strong>Pearl</strong> in his heart for the rest of his life.<br />
25
Jacob’s second year at school is coming to an end. In<br />
class, they learn about the short life of butterflies.<br />
Jacob wants to make a butterfly, whose wing markings<br />
resemble the big eyes of his severely disabled sister<br />
<strong>Pearl</strong>.<br />
The big brother knows that he must soon say goodbye<br />
to his sister, who is spending more and more time<br />
in the hospital.<br />
With his grandma, Jacob explores his most dif ficult<br />
thoughts, when his parents are too tired to talk. Their<br />
joint walks in nature are a consolation, even af ter<br />
<strong>Pearl</strong>’s life has ended.<br />
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