One summer, a boy named Liam arrived at his grandmother's house in the countryside. Every morning he ate hot pancakes with cold sour cream, juicy apples grew in the garden, and nearby in the woods flowed a babbling stream that was perfect for swimming.
Liam really enjoyed visiting his grandmother. Only one thing bothered him—there were no other children in the village to play with.
And so one day the boy went to catch butterflies. He ran along the stream with his net, catching white cabbage butterflies and yellow brimstones, but he released them right away because they weren't bright or interesting enough. He was about to head home when suddenly he saw an amazing butterfly. It was dark orange, almost red, and on its wings were large dark circles, just like on a peacock's tail.
The boy crept up quietly and threw 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 want.
Liam thought for a moment, scratched his head, shrugged his shoulders and said:
Well, I want lots of things, but I don't know how to choose. If I wish for ice cream now, then I'll eat it, and there'll be nothing left. And the wish will be gone. What if I remember something important later?
All right. 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 answered.
Liam was delighted and agreed. And he wished for roller skates. He looked at his feet, and there were rollerblades! Bright, orange with black wheels, beautiful. The butterfly hadn't lied. The boy wanted to thank her, looked in the net, but she had already flown away. He shouted louder then: "Thank you so much!" and rolled along the path beside the stream.
But the path was bumpy, and the boy kept stumbling. Liam realized it was awkward to rollerblade on dirt. And he decided it would be better to go fishing. Pop!—a sandalwood fishing rod appeared in his hands. And the skates disappeared. Our hero approached the stream, sat on the bank and started fishing.
He fished and fished. And he caught one! A beautiful crucian carp. He took it off the hook and realized he had nowhere to put it. Liam thought that he should have brought a bucket with him—pop!—and right away an orange bucket with black polka dots appeared beside him, even filled with water. He put the carp in it, wanted to grab the rod, but it was gone.
Right! It turned into the bucket! Well, now I can't fish anymore...
Liam slapped his forehead.
He picked up the bucket and walked along the stream toward home. The sun was beginning to sink toward sunset, it was time to return to his grandmother's.
The boy walked and thought about what an interesting day it had been. But it was such a shame that there was no friend nearby to tell all this to. And then he realized what his most important wish was! He released the carp into the stream, set the bucket on the path and said loudly:
I want a friend!
And the bucket turned into a girl. With dark orange hair and big dark eyes. The girl laughed and said:
Well done, you chose the most important wish in the world! I'll be your friend while you're visiting the countryside.
What's your name?
My name is Peacock Butterfly. You caught me this morning, and it was me who turned into the skates, the fishing rod and the bucket. I was curious what you would wish for. And I wasn't wrong about you, you're a good person since friendship is the most important thing to you.
The girl laughed.
My name is Liam. Let's go eat apple turnovers, my grandmother always bakes them for supper.
The boy introduced himself.
And the children went to have supper. 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?
