Into the Tall Tall Grass by Loriel Ryon
YOLANDA crept to the bedroom door, cracking it just so and peering inside. Her abuela, Wela, was lying in bed with a yellow serape tucked beneath her arms, her chest barely rising. Three orange-and-black butteries nestled into her long white curls, their wings opening and closing ever so slightly as the morning sun ickered through the tree branches outside the window. It was exactly the same sight it had been for the past two weeks. Yolanda sighed in disappointment and pushed open the door, letting it groan loudly on its hinges, hoping the sound would cause Wela to stir. Wake up. Wela, please wake up. But Wela didn’t move. Was this all her fault? She sighed and walked over to the nightstand, twisting the vase of scarlet milkweed blossoms toward the light. Two butteries sipped nectar from the wilting owers. She brought the vase to Wela’s ngertips in hopes that her touch would liven the blossoms. But they remained wilted, and she made a mental note to switch them out before she left for school.