Episode II. Onyx Chases Flutterbies

From Tales of Onyx the Cruising Kitty

by Onyx Blackwell
Chief Editor and Cruising Kitty

Of the many adventures we had so far, one pretty amazing one was in the middle of Long Island Sound. We were sailing along peacefully as we usually do, when suddenly a flutterby – the prettiest I had ever seen – landed right on the barbecue. Lucky it was not in use or he might have been fried.

He was so pretty with black and gold geometric designs and an orange spot on his back. He wasn’t at all like the ones in our back yard at home. But it was so unusual out here on the water, or was it?

He was so exhausted and I so wanted to talk to him and find out where he was off to. But he did not speak cat and since I don’t speak flutterby yet, we could not get a word out that either of us could understand. Besides he was so exhausted from flapping his wings he could barely catch his breath.

The Monarch Flutterby taking a break on our barbeque grill en route to Mexico.

Then, suddenly two more flew in, and then five, and ten more. They were sitting on the sails and on the rails. They were flying in droves now and coloring the boat with their beautiful wings. They were everywhere, clouds of them, masses of flutterbys filling the air. I started jumping up at them to play with them and one landed on my nose. My eyes crossed looking at her but she just sat there. I didn’t know what to do so we just sat there staring at each other for a while.

She-ple and he-ple were giggling in joy and taking pictures of the flutterbys all over the boat. Then she-ple sat very still and they sat all over her. They were especially pretty on her hair like ornaments she could wear. They rode along for awhile and when we got closer to shore, they all took off together and flew away, joining the thousands of others who had not taken a break with us.

She-ple told me she had heard about this “Monarch butterfly migration” but never thought she’s get to see it. Seems that every year, these little flutterbys fly all the way from Canada to Mexico and their children fly back again. I could not imagine that these little beauties could flap their little wings long enough to go so far. But I guess if they hitch a ride every once in a while, it might make it easier.

"Thank you for visiting, flutterbys. I'll come see you in Mexico one day. And please do come visit us again," I cried after them as they flew away. "That left me completely exhausted. I think I'll just lie down," I thought.

I’m Onyx Blackwell, the black sea cat, The Cruising Kitty. I’m going to see the world. But first I need to take a nap.