Volume 6 Numbers 1 and 2 | Apr-Sept 2026

The Golden Paper Butterfly

Story idea by Keshavshree Ram Prasath | Story and art by Pia Alize Hazarika

 
Keshavshree’s pitch:

Nilla was a positive and vibrant girl who always believed that everything happened for a good reason. One time, a mosquito bit her, and instead of complaining, she joked that it must have happened because she was just too sweet to resist! Of course, that wasn’t true, but she liked to think so. She smiled at everyone she met, but in big crowds, she mostly kept to herself. She wasn’t shy exactly – she just liked listening more than talking.

Nilla loved to fold papers, making flowers, paper boats, paper rockets – crafting in general. One day she crafted a paper airplane that flew deep in the mist and through the skies. On a rainy day, she crafted a paper boat that sailed and navigated through a bunch of hard ships like in life.

On her way home after her exams, she saw a lovely golden butterfly in the garden. Later that evening, she started to craft the beautiful butterfly. As each fold defined the butterfly more and more, she felt satisfied crafting it!!!

As she felt quite tired after crafting, she decided to sleep but she kept tossing and turning. Her brain just did not stop thinking. After a few minutes, she felt this unusual thirst. She was half asleep, and had to drag herself out of bed. After gulping a cold glass of water, she went back to her room to sleep. But what she saw left her awe-struck.

The butterfly she had crafted earlier was not sitting still on the table. It was fluttering and flying all around the room, sitting on the bed, inside the table fan, inspecting the technology socket, trying to free itself at the window. Nilla opened the window to let it fly out into the garden.

The happiness on her face was unimaginable, as though she had eaten 1000 chocolates. She lay down on the bed, but could not go to sleep. In her dreams of her own magical world, she felt like her hands had some super power, as though they were made out of pure magic. Her imagination level touched the heights of Mount Everest.

She started dreaming about using her ability to craft a baby (she was an only child), a shimmering dress that she had been eyeing for a long time, a diamond earring, a bowl full of her favourite chocolates. More seriously, she dreamed that she would craft more trees, and finally a pair of limbs that would help persons with disabilities.

She woke up excitedly, ready to start crafting. But then she heard her mom screaming at her dad “There are so many uninvited guests” (meaning mosquitoes and insects) “inside the house. Why did you open the windows at night?”

Nilla sat on the bed staring at the crafted golden butterfly outside the window on the hibiscus flower. Then she realised that it was the real butterfly that had been in her room at night. The same butterfly which she had seen in the garden.

THE END

My superpower explains lot about my character. I like to believe that whatever you make out of paper, will come true in my own life!! It’s crucial to me because one of the things I have enjoyed doing since I was a child is origami and crafting. My superpower is very special to me as it defines and reflects my character more and more. My story doesn’t follow superpower like invisibility, flying or mind reading. The best thing I would do if I get this superpower is craft a ton of trees and craft a pair of limbs for disabled people.