Albert liked collecting. As a child it was stamps, as a young man, girlfriends. Nowadays, slackened by sin and faltering vitality, he became a lepidopterist. Five hundred glass cases, each packed with exotic chevrons of inert delight.
These delicate angels, dancing on the skewer of a pin, weren’t arranged as you might expect – blues in one case, swallowtails in another, metalmarks, and so on. Instead, Albert displayed them by markings, arranged side by side so the patterns spelled out words.
“The way we categorise things,” he said, “confronts us with our assumptions. To me, nature is a book.”
Friday fictioneers is a weekly challenge set by Rochelle Wisoff Fields to write a 100-word story in response to a photo prompt. You can find other stories here
Neil MacDonald Author 
I like that he is slackened by sin and faltering vitality yet he’s moved into something unusual and imaginative. He could have ended up moaning impotently about the youth of today and low interest rates. Instead he’s discovered something truly fascinating.
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Batty but fascinating. Thanks, Jilly
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‘Exotic chevrons of inert delight’ – a lovely phrase. It’s good that Albert has a hobby, although it may have gone too far to be described as healthy!
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Thanks, Iain. Albert always had a tendency to obsession
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Dear Neil,
I can almost picture him by your descriptions of his personality. Well written.
Shalom,
Rochelle
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We all know an Albert. Thanks, Rochelle
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What a man! 🙂
And, what a fabulous story!
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Thanks, Moon
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Channeling his inner Linneaus, maybe. I suspect most naturalists have a touch of OCD.
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A taxonomy of tantalising tidings
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Loved your descriptions all the way through, Neil. Beautifully done. He almost sounds sinister, though!
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Thanks, Dale. He’s certainly odd
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What an intriguing story, Neil. It is intriguing how different people file and sort things, especially when someone else reorganizes you. My daughter filed all the icons on my mobile phone by function and while I’ve become used to it, my husband quickly loses patience. She files her own books in rainbow order and started to do the same to mine before I stopped her. I’d finally managed to get some of my books sorted by author.
As a word smith, I liked how he arranged them to spell words. That’s much more my type of thing.
xx Rowena
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Thanks. Rowena. I’ve always been fascinated by classification systems
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You made me look up “lepidopterist.”
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Sorry. I tried calling it “butterflies” so you wouldn’t have to
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That, okay. I learned a new word, that is until I forget it again.
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Albert should be mounted in a book. Butterflies belong as free agents.
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Well, he’s mounted in a story
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Great writing, fascinating character, interesting idea. I wonder what the butterflies said.
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Thanks so much. The butterflies, of course, said what Albert made them say
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Until I read your reply to Karen’s post, the elegance of your prose had blinded me to the elegance of your metaphor. Very clever and polished, Neil.
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Thanks so much, Penny
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Butterfly collecting must be one of the creepiest hobbies around. Quite appropriate that he turned to it when he’d tried everything else.
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Not something that’s ever attracted me
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I find that reassuring 🙂
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:Exotic chevrons of inert delight.” Delightful 🙂
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Thanks
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How beautifully described. Lovely phrasing and an original way of displaying his catch shows us a little of his character. You’re very good at the mildly disturbing male, Neil!
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Thanks, Lynn. I’ve done mildly disturbing females too, you know
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Mildly disturbing for either gender is good for me 🙂
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A delightfully different take on the prompt – pinning the butterflies in a pattern to spell words, So imaginative.
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I have a sneaking fondness for Albert’s craziness
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Looks like he found his niche. Excellent story!
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Thanks so much
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Love the way he categorizes them… a man and his mosaic
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Thanks, Bjorn
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What lovely use of exotic words, almost lyrical. Our man does tend to go overboard with his obsessions methinks.
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Thanks so much. Yes he is a tad compulsive
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Ooh, I love the line about how we categorize things confronting us with our assumptions – interesting!
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Thanks Joy. It’s been a long fascination of mine
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Wow very clever Neil. Some beautiful phrases here. Obsession can be dangerous. Hopefully he only sticks to flowers
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Thanks Laurie. He’s tried flowers but can’t read the language
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Interesting character. I can’t imagine the mind that could do such a thing.
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Sure you could – you’re a writer
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Hmm. Makes me wonder about those girlfriends…
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I believe he may have mounted them too
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😊
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What a fascinating image! Yeah, true confessions, I don’t really like any kind of stuffed and mounted animal including butterflies. It always creeps me out. Not right. That said, I can appreciate the art involved – I guess. Intriguing story.
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Thanks. I’m not big on taxidermy myself
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scary… i wonder what he’ll collect next.
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I hate to think. I don’t believe I’ll write that one for im
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I somehow found it terribly sinister and eerie. Yet the beauty of your prose held me spellbound.
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Thanks Dalia. He is a somewhat creepy character
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Thought-provoking story. Like everyone has said, there is a sinister edge to this man.
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Thanks so much, Fatima
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Interesting character, that Albert, a little eccentric.
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Thanks, Russell. He’s crazier than a box of frogs
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Albert seems very creative. Not everyone can be that distinctive with butterflies and moths.
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Creative, yes. Sane? Not entirely
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Each to their own – I hate to see butterflies pinned to a board.
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Me too
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Enjoyed reading this, I am always amazed by other peoples’ collections and why they feel the need to own such things.
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Thanks James. I think the appeal of collections is probably the desire to impose order on a tiny portion of the universe
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Interesting take! I wonder what the words say? What kind of book is it? Butterflies Are (were) Free? 🙂
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I believe they form a terrible prophency, or perhaps a love sonnet
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“exotic chevrons of inert delight” I loved this and the rest of the descriptions. Wonderful!
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Thanks so much
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Ooooh, I’d love to see his display to see what he sees and what his butterflies say.
That being said, there are enough collections out there to visit to stop any more beautiful winged creatures being caught and pinned.
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Thanks. Sarah Ann. We may never know what he has made the butterflies say
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What a great character sketch and creative take on the prompt. The last line is quite thought provoking.
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Thanks, Magarisa. I enjoyed creating him
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I found this story subtly chilling – suggesting so much that is alienating about the man.
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Subtly chilling is great. That’s what I was aiming for
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