Awakenings

I bought two chrysalises a few weeks back and put them in my butterfly container. One was quite fat and housed a moth; the other was thin and dead looking and housed a delicate butterfly. I was told the moth was hibernating and would take weeks or months to emerge while the butterfly would be out and about within a week. The moth came out after about a month–a fine brown specimen–but the other chrysalis didn’t stir at all and looked pretty shriveled. I gave up on it. But last night, miraculously, it emerged apparently no worse for wear! It’s a beauty. It was in the chrysalis stage for well over a month. Now I just have to stop the cat from clawing at the container which is made of mesh.