Jeannie knelt down and stared at the empty space in front of Frank, her wings tight behind her back. For a moment she even considered lying about where she had been. Then Jeannie remembered who he was and realized how stupid it would be to lie to one of the leaders of the Grand Patrol. Even though very little was known about the hierarchy by outsiders, it was obvious to her how stupid such a move would be.  

Jeannie stood there quietly, trying to calm down as quickly as possible, but her nerves got the best of her. Her wings were trembling, her knees were shaking; she could barely stand. It was a pitiful sight.

Jeannie was waiting for Frank to flap something. She was sure some sort of punishment was awaiting her, but nothing came from him. She eventually raised her head and looked up. He was still standing there. Jeannie couldn’t entirely understand the look he was giving her, since she was too afraid to look him directly in the eyes, but she knew it was intense.

“What were you looking for?” Frank finally asked. Jeannie tried to steady her wings while flapping an answer.

“Nothing.”

“Is that so?” Frank asked again, but then he turned his head away from her.” I need you to stay focused. Mistakes will not be tolerated where we are going. Is that clear?”

Jeannie nodded as fast as possible.

“Yes, sir.”

Frank hesitated for a moment, but didn’t flap anything to her. She felt somewhat relieved. Her secret appeared to be safe, at least for a little longer.

“Come on, get up. We must head for the humans. Enough time has been wasted today.”

Jeannie glanced at the sky. It had changed several shades of grey since they last spoke. It was possible that he had waited for a while for her to show up. She slowly got up and discretely removed the little pieces of dirt from her wing mittens.

Jeannie expected Frank to go inside the tiny tree house from before, but, instead, he walked over to the edge of the branch. Jeannie’s stomach turned. She felt how Frank was getting impatient, and she unwillingly made a few steps towards him, then stopped.

The ground underneath them revealed itself again. It had shifted its shape; it appeared angry yet amused. There was no sign of the sock. The abyss had swallowed it without leaving a trace.

“Jeannie Swallowtail, all you have to do now is follow me. Do not ask questions. That will only make things more complicated. Do you understand? Just follow. No questions.”

Jeannie nodded, but her body refused to budge. The view of the ground underneath was making her knees feel soft. She wanted to just sit down on the branch and cry.

Frank picked up on the chaotic chemical composition flowing through her veins. It was difficult not to.

“Jeannie, you can think of it as trust. Alright?” he asked. Jeannie nodded and tried to walk over to the edge, even though it felt as if there were rocks tied to her feet.

“How can it be trust if you refuse to answer questions?” she felt herself flap and was probably more surprised than Frank from this indiscretion. A highly ranked officer as himself didn’t owe any justifications to a simple civilian.

Jeannie knew he had every right to be furious (and probably to push her off the tree), and she froze in her steps.

“A flawless argument. This isn’t trust,” he replied calmly.” What do you want to know?”

Jeannie stood still and just stared at her feet for what felt like eternity.

“Are we going to fly to the ground?”

Frank turned his whole body towards her. It was a rare gesture from someone much older than herself.

“Even better. We are going to fly under the ground.”

Jeannie felt nauseous.

“Under the ground? How is that possible…” she flapped, but couldn’t finish her sentence. This didn’t make any sense.

“Child, what is the Legend of the Grey Earth?” Frank suddenly asked.

Jeannie pulled herself together. She could clearly remember the most basic legend every hatchling was taught right after breaking free from their eggshell.

“Legend has it that, eons ago, the earth underneath our feet was brown. The more advanced we got, the more it lost its color and the lighter it became. Once it reached the color of the sky, it was angered at butterflies because they stomped on it. And so, if a butterfly would get too close to the earth, it would reveal horrible images. Some of them are so horrific, your blood would freeze and you would fall through the earth instantly, never to be seen again. Other legends say it is a portal to Hell,” Jeannie flapped, although it struck her at the end of her sentence that she did not know what Hell meant; she only knew it was a bad tree to be on.

“Very good, child. Now, I will tell you something which you must not repeat to anyone. Understood?”

Jeannie nodded. Frank tried to give her a reassuring look to the best of his ability.

“Legends are not always real.”

The young girl gasped.

“But why would the earth try to scare us if it’s not angry at us?”

“Child, this is not earth. At least not the “earth” you think it is. What surrounds the hackberry trees is something mankind calls a cloud.”

Jeannie was speechless. She had never heard of such a thing. In the butterfly world, there were only the sky, the earth, trees, and antiques. This was everything nature consisted of.

“What exactly is a cloud?”

“It is a condensed piece of sky, similar to a fog. That’s why it has the same color. And every ninth one brings joy, according to mankind.”

Jeannie nodded automatically. The idea that the ground would turn out to be just as soft as a morning fog shook her. It felt crazy.

“Now, then, shall we proceed?” Frank asked.

Jeannie was surprised by how calm he appeared to be regardless of the situation.

“Don’t you want to ask me something?” she replied instantly without thinking.

“Ask you something?” Frank was puzzled and thought about that idea for a moment.” Perhaps reciprocity is part of trust. Very well, Jeannie Swallowtail. Though I can’t possibly think of something I don’t know about you already.”

“Really?” Jeannie was astonished.

“Yes. Hatched 4 days ago. Branch 1420. Graduated from school with average grades. Decent student, never asked too many questions, never doubted the authority of the Grand Patrol. I was handed a list of your close friends, but I threw it away. Ah. Perhaps there is one thing I don’t know.”

This was the first time Jeannie saw a spark of interest in Frank’s eye lenses.

“Did you enjoy gambling, hatchling?”

Jeannie was stunned. She had no answer to that and just stared at him until a simple reply came to mind. It was astonishing how patient Frank was.

“I don’t know. I never got to gamble.”

“Ah. Sad. Wasted opportunities are always sad,” Frank concluded. He turned his head towards the abyss underneath. The wind was getting chilly and was starting to blow from a different direction. Jeannie felt it blow straight in her face. It was so strong that she struggled to stay in one place. Jeannie glanced over to the edge of the branch. She had no choice but to finish the last few steps separating her from Frank.

The sky was starting to really waken up, Jeannie could tell; it was slightly brighter, which meant that the sun was going to shine today. This morning wasn’t going to be foggy at all.

“One last thing before we enter the human realm, and this is where you need to trust me: we have to pierce through the cloud. It consists of three layers, and it’s crucial that you do not breathe the entire time we are diving through the air. Understood? You must follow my lead. No questions. There will be no chance for that anyway.”

Jeannie nodded. Frank stretched his wings a few times and suddenly jumped from the branch. Jeannie watched with her heart in her stomach how he dived in the ground without leaving a trace. She just stared down, wondering how this was all possible; how it was that nobody knew the ground was actually no different from a fog. How there was an entire human realm underneath their feet, which even experienced officers from the Grand Patrol had never been to. She wondered whether now was a good time to try gambling: this was the moment to make a run for it. To just fly towards the sun until she was so far away that nobody could ever find her. The sun was always so warm and bright. It felt like the perfect destination. Something she could eventually reach. Something known.

But there was one thing stopping her, and Jeannie realized then and there she could not leave everything behind and disappear. The sun was probably too small to land on, and it was so far, far away from everyone she knew. If she were to run away now, there was no way anyone would allow her to return. Ever. Jeannie threw another look at the black cloud underneath. She decided that if she was going to bet on something, it was going to be Frank.

She tried to count to 10, but got stuck after 6. Numbers had never been her thing. Jeannie just took a deep breath and jumped, praying to the lizards that Frank would bring her more luck than the human sock.

The black cloud underneath her looked as cold and unwelcoming as ever.