One summer, a boy named Lachlan came to visit his nan in the country. Every morning he ate hot pikelets with cold cream, juicy apples grew in the garden, and nearby in the bush flowed a babbling creek, perfect for swimming.
Lachlan really loved staying at his nan's place. Only one thing bothered him — there were no other kids in the area to play with.
And so one day the boy went out to catch butterflies. He ran along the creek with his net, catching white cabbage butterflies and yellow ones, but he let them go straight away because they weren't bright or interesting enough. He was about to head home when suddenly he spotted an amazing butterfly. It was dark orange, almost red, and on its wings were large circles, just like on a peacock's tail.
The boy crept up quietly and swooped his net over it. The butterfly tried to fly up, but the net stopped it. The little creature struggled with all its might in the net, but couldn't tear through it. And then it spoke in a human voice:
Please, let me go! And I'll grant you any wish you like.
Lachlan thought for a moment, scratched his head, shrugged his shoulders and said:
Well, I want heaps of things, but I don't know how to choose. If I wish for an ice cream now, I'll eat it, and then there'll be nothing left. And the wish will be gone. What if I remember something important later?
Alright then. I'll give you one wish, but you can change it until the sun touches the horizon. As soon as the sun starts to set, you'll be left with whatever you've chosen.
The butterfly replied.
Lachlan was thrilled and agreed. And he wished for roller skates. He looked down at his feet, and there were the skates! Bright, orange with black wheels, beautiful. The butterfly hadn't lied. The boy wanted to say thank you, looked in the net, but she'd already flown away. So he called out loudly: "Thank you so much!" and rolled off along the path beside the creek.
But the path was bumpy, and the boy kept stumbling. Lachlan realized it wasn't much fun skating on rough ground. And he decided it would be better to go fishing. Whoosh! — a sandalwood fishing rod appeared in his hands. And the skates vanished. Our hero walked up to the creek, sat on the bank and started fishing.
He fished and fished. And he caught one! A beautiful carp. He took it off the hook and realized he had nowhere to put it. Lachlan thought that he should have brought a bucket — whoosh! — and right away a ginger bucket with black spots appeared beside him, even filled with water. He popped the carp in, went to grab his rod, but it was gone.
Of course! It turned into the bucket! Well, that's the end of fishing...
Lachlan slapped his forehead.
He picked up the bucket and walked along the creek toward home. The sun was starting to dip toward the horizon, it was time to head back to his nan's.
The boy walked along thinking what an interesting day it had been. But it was such a shame there was no mate nearby to tell it all to. And then he realized what his most important wish was! He released the carp back into the creek, set the bucket down on the path and said loudly:
I want a friend!
And the bucket transformed into a girl. With dark ginger hair and big dark eyes. The girl laughed and said:
Good on you, you chose the most important wish in the world! I'll be your friend while you're staying in the country.
What's your name?
My name is Peacock Butterfly. You caught me this morning, and it was me turning into the skates, the fishing rod and the bucket. I was curious to see what you'd wish for. And I wasn't wrong about you, you're a good kid, since friendship is the most important thing to you.
The girl laughed.
I'm Lachlan. Come on, let's have some apple turnovers, Nan always bakes them for tea.
The boy introduced himself.
And the children went off for tea. That's how our hero learned that a true friend is more important than any toys or things. And what would you wish for, little one?
