A Butterfly's Mark

In a distant past, a step was taken,
A single moment, destiny awakened.

A butterfly, delicate and bright,
In a muddy boot, it lost its flight.

Its wings, once vibrant, now lay still,
A silent echo of freedom's will.
The future shifts, a fragile thread,
By a small life, unwittingly fled.

A Butterfly Echoes

Eckels stood frozen, staring at the mud-caked boot. He had been warned about the consequences of their actions, but he never imagined that a single step could change everything. The delicate butterfly, now crushed, its lifeless body, clung to his boot's sole. As they returned to the present, the world was different—subtly, then drastically. Words altered, colours shifted, even the air felt wrong. All from the death of a butterfly in the prehistoric past.

As he lowered his boot back to the floor, Eckels lifted pleading eyes toward a livid Travis, his safari leader. From the periphery of his tunneling vision a blur of gunmetal moved into frame, he opened his mouth again to clear his confusion and the last thing he heard was the sound of thunder.