The Chrysalis: In Loving Memory of Luna

Below is an excerpt from the French-Canadien film, Monsieur Lazhar (2011).
Written by Philippe Falardeau, adapted from the screenplay by Évelyne de la Chenelière.

I have translated it from French to English in loving memory of my cat, Luna who died suddenly on Monday 6th of September 2021.

She was the light of my life.

“There is nothing to say about an unjust death. Nothing at all. As will become apparent.

From the branch of an olive tree, there hung a tiny chrysalis the colour of an emerald.

Tomorrow she would become beautiful butterfly, freed from her cocoon.

The tree was happy to see his chrysalis grown, but secretly, he wanted to keep her a few more years.

"So long as she remembers me. "

He had shielded her from gusts, saved her from ants, but tomorrow she would leave to face predators and the harsh weather.

That night, a fire ravaged the forest, and the chrysalis never became a butterfly.

At dawn, the ashes cold, the tree still stood, but his heart was charred, scarred by the flames, scarred by grief.

Ever since then, when a bird alights on the tree, the tree tells it about the chrysalis that never woke up.

He pictures her, wings spread, flitting across a clear blue sky, drunk on nectar and freedom,

the discreet witness to our love stories.”