u/Pappathumbus

Part 1

I’ve lived in Missouri all my life, and I’ve experienced my fair share of tornados, however
nothing significant enough to call a real story. Most people in the area where I live have had
experiences with tornadoes. Damn near everyone I know has seen one or been caught up in one
at some point. If you’ve never been in the presence of a tornado, they are a lot less cool and awe
inspiring in person; I can promise you that. It is an unforgiving force, a giant grey worm
descending from the sky just to scar the earth. A pointless bout of destruction caused by an angry
planet.

Most weather like rain, snow, or heavy wind seems to serve a purpose. They bring life to plants,
carry pollen for miles to bring life to other areas of our world. Even wildfires bring life in the
wake of its flames, providing nutrients to the plants that follow the previous generation.
Tornados feel like divine punishment. Like the earth is burying a dagger into itself, just as a
show of strength, to make us feel helpless. If there was ever a moment in history that this
description felt most appropriate, it would be the tornado that struck the people of Joplin,
Missouri in 2011.

This incident was particularly unforgiving, an EF5 Wedge tornado tore through the area killing
over 150 people, destroying homes, vehicles, and leaving a foot deep trench through the earth
that stretched for miles. The tornado at its peak reached a width of over a mile wide and
destroyed nearly everything in a six-mile radius of it. EF5 tornados are extremely rare, and
typically happen in distant, uninhabited areas of the states, so they do not normally cause harm to
anything other than the landscapes they rip apart. Other than this tornado being nearly the largest
in recorded history, there was another detail of this incident that sparked interest from the
community around Joplin.

Many people were directly impacted by the tornado, but among the survivors, children began
telling their parents, paramedics, and reporters about something they witnessed that no other
survivors had seen. Children, across different areas affected by the tornado, began telling people
they had seen “Butterfly people” in the midst of the destruction. Stories of winged creatures with
white robes holding their hands and wrapping their wings around them to protect them. Most of
the children saw them as guardian angels, and Joplin, being a highly religious area, was filled
with parents that believed that their children had been comforted by divine beings sent by God to
protect them.I did not grow up in a religious household, nor do I believe in God or divine beings.

If those beings truly were real, and God sent them to tell the children they would be okay, then why did
so many other children die? Why did the tornado happen in the first place? Why would God save
some of them but not all of them? Unless God is an evil, maniacal prankster, I don’t see that
being the case. The stories, on the other hand, are compelling.

Multiple children, across different areas of the town all saying they saw the same visage of
winged beings coming down from the skies to save them? Sure, you could say that, as I said
before, Joplin is a very religious area, so perhaps the children used imagery they remembered
from church as some sort of comfort induced hallucination during an extremely stressful moment
to keep their minds from shattering, but I don’t think this is the case. I’m not sure what happened
or what I believe, but I plan on figuring out why they saw what they saw.

Sorry to introduce myself so late, I probably should have done that to begin with, but I’m not
much of a writer. I’m more or less using this to keep track of the events going forward with my
“investigation” into the Butterfly people. My name is Drew, I’m an amateur meteorologist, and
storm chaser. My real job is selling life insurance. It was the only decently paying job I figured I
could do remotely out of high school and have enough spare time to work on this whole storm
chasing thing, and as interesting as storms and tornadoes are I’m not really chasing them to track
weather patterns.

As I said I’ve never been a religious person, I didn’t grow up in a church-going household. My
parents were both career-focused people. My dad was a Geologist, and my mom worked a
government job, so we never went to church or even spoke about Church. We all normally
bonded by cooking together or watching movies, between their busy schedules, but as far as I
remember they weren’t into the whole God thing. One night, I was over at a friend's house after
school planning to spend the night. My parents never cared about me going anywhere or doing
anything if my grades were good and I wasn’t smoking crack. That night a massive storm kicked
up pretty late into the afternoon, but that was a pretty regular occurrence in the summer months,
so nobody thought anything of it, especially since there weren’t any tornado sirens going berserk.
That night, almost out of thin air, a large EF3 tornado made contact with the ground right outside
my parents' house. It must have touched the ground right next to our home, because my parents'
bodies were never found. Our storm cellar was closed with nobody inside, and our house was
turned into a twisted pile of metal and blistered wood. I don’t even remember the last thing I said
to them before I went to school that morning.
This brings me to today, and my infatuation with the story of the Butterfly People.

I want to believe my parents are out there somewhere, I want to believe God exists and he somehow found a way to rescue them. I need to see them; I need to know that the children saw what they say they saw, and my parents aren’t just erased from history. I need proof that they exist, and the only way I’m going to get real proof is by seeing them with my own eyes. I’m going to find Butterfly
People.

Part 2

April 24th
It’s getting close to the peak of tornado season out here where I live, and if I want to have any
chance at chasing a storm, let alone finding a tornado I need to be prepared. There’s also no way
of knowing whether or not the “Butterfly People” will show up to just any tornado that happens
to touch down. I need to be in the path of one that, unfortunately, is heading towards civilization.
If winged saviors are going to make an appearance, there needs to be people, specifically
children, to save. Judging by the first-hand accounts made during the Joplin incident, it must be children, since they are the only ones who claimed to have seen them.

I have all of the equipment and weather tracking devices a regular guy like me can get his hands
on, so figuring out where a tornado might occur won’t be an impossible task. However, making
sure the tornado is going to be on a path towards people, that is the trickier part. In order for me
to have any real chance at seeing the butterfly people, I’ll somehow have to intentionally put a
child in harm's way. I’m sure you guys are going to hate me but I need answers, I need to see
them, I need to know that my parents are okay. After all, if the Butterfly People are real, any kid
I bring with me is going to be fine anyways.

April 26th
I figured out how I can get a child without kidnapping one, I never planned to do that by the way, I’m not a psychopath. I convinced my aunt to let me babysit my little cousin Thomas here and
there, I told her it would be good for me since I’ve been alone in my apartment for so long. The
sob story seemed to work, and it looks like I’ll be able to watch him pretty much whenever I
want to. My aunt is extremely sympathetic since my parents died, so it was easy to convince her
to let me take him. Thomas is nine years old, so he’s definitely young enough for the Butterfly
People to save him if I can get him close enough to a tornado. Fingers crossed, we’re at the
beginning of the season so hopeflly we’ll get some good storms here soon.

April 30th
I’ve been doing as much research on Butterfly People as I can while I wait for a system that’s
strong enough to form a really decent tornado. I’ve missed a few, but they were EF1, and EF2.
Nothing crazy, and they were out in Kansas, I have to make sure the system is close enough for
me to scoop up Thomas and bring him close to the tornado, without taking him on a road trip.

I have him with me right now. He’s a smart kid, and he's been really interested in my storm
chasing hobby too. I brought up the idea of trying to go see a tornado with him, as long as he
doesn’t tell his mom. He agreed that it’ll be our secret.I’m hoping we can see a powerful formation here soon. We are still at the beginning of the
season too, so I have plenty of time to find one. I’m also really looking to see a large tornado,
minimum EF3 so it’s destructive enough for the Butterfly People to make an appearance.

Some people in my inner circle telling me it’s wrong to be using Thomas but what choice do I have?
Even if a EF5 forms out of nowhere and goes barreling towards a town, I can’t guarantee I’ll see
them or know where they are. Apparently, children are the only ones who can see them, so if I
don’t have a kid with me, how will I know where to look?

May 12th
I finally have some good news for you guys! A massive storm is developing near Missouri, and I
plan to go pick up Thomas here shortly. This could be my chance! It's really early into the
season, so it definitely won’t be my only shot at doing this, but I’m excited, nonetheless. I might
actually have a huge update here soon.

I got Thomas in the car with me and this storm is looking like a good one, I’ve heard reports on
the radio that cyclones are starting to pop up here and there so we might have a real shot at this.
Thomas is starting to get a little scared, but he seems like he trusts that I’ll keep him safe. He
helped me pack up my car too. He’s a well-behaved kid. I told him if he’s brave and doesn’t talk
to his mom, I’ll buy him a switch.

Part 3
We began our hunt for a cyclone around 5pm, we had a limited window and a huge area to cover
if we were going to somehow get in the path of a large tornado, if one even forms. We began our
drive out on small back roads looking up into the dark grey sky, clouds violently wisping around
and moving like a hands trying to break through a thin sheet of paper. The wind was strong,
physically moving the car from side to side, causing me to consistently readjust my steering
wheel. Thomas began to shake and tremble as loud cracks and crashes echoed through the sky.

Thunder caused by random pops and flashes of lightning, clear signs of unstable conditions.
My small car rattled and jumped through the small dirt roads as Thomas and I scanned the skies
for any sign of rotation in the clouds. I checked my weather radar and began seeing a hook-like
shape form in a bright red horseshoe at the edge of the storm, exactly what we were looking for.
I began to make my way towards the grub shaped mark on my weather map when I heard
Thomas begin to cry, and grab my arm pleading me to go home.

“SHUT THE FUCK UP AND LOOK FOR ONE WE AREN’T LEAVING UNTIL WE SEE
ONE!” I screamed at him as I violently threw his hand off my arm. We continued forward and
his cries began to burn into my brain making me furious, I was so close to seeing them I couldfeel them. The butterfly people were going to be here I knew they were, they wouldn’t ignore the
cries of a child in the storm their God caused.

As we turned a sharp corner around some trees, we both looked out onto a wide stretch of open
fields. The grass shaking violently, as directly above the field we saw a massive, dark grey
cyclone begin to form in the sky. This was easily an EF2 or possibly EF3, if it managed to touch
down and not dissipate. The clouds began to twist violently but gracefully in the sky as a long,
light grey worm extended from the sky towards the open field, and almost as though the earth
was reaching up towards it, the dirt and grass began to twist and rotate up towards the
descending rope, and they connected. A tornado.

I quickly turned my car in the direction of the tornado; this was not as powerful as I had thought,
but a tornado, nonetheless. It coiled, and stretched around itself, smaller thinner snakelike
structures wisping and coiling around its center. It appeared as though I was looking into the
maw of an angry God, a Cthulhu-like creature bending down to consume the earth with its
tentacular appendages. This was classified as a rope tornado, but it was going to have to do.

My car struggled through the violent winds and bumpy grass, pushing and pulling as though the car
was an unruly fish attached to an angler's line.
As we approached, the tornado began to intensify, transforming an unpredictable violent snake
into a smooth, thick funnel, pulling dirt and plants violently around its base. This tornado was
intensifying quickly. As I drove us further into its wake, closer towards the promise of angels,
random debris and rocks began smattering into the sides of my car. The sound was unforgiving;
the winds screamed and shouted like a choir of tortured beasts, and the gravel and rocks sounded
belting into my car sounded like being inside of a blender filled with glass. I could no longer
hear Thomas’s cries.

I stopped my car and threw down the emergency brake, as though I believed it would do
anything to prevent the cyclone from consuming it, as it had been doing to the earth. I threw
open my door, and ran to the passenger's side of the vehicle, attempting to pull Thomas from the
seat, and offer him to the finger of God that had dragged its way towards us. He resisted as much
as a child could before I pulled him from the false safety of the car and onto the dirt. Rocks, dirt,
twigs, and sand pelting our skin and scarring our flesh. I jumped into my car and locked the
doors behind me, leaving him behind. I watched as rocks pelted his small soft face, as he banged
his tiny fists into the window, pleading for me to bring him to his mother.

I didn’t feel regret, or remorse, just anticipation. Waiting for the angels to rescue him from the
danger I had placed him in. Suddenly I felt a heavy smack into the roof of my car, and the roof
dented inwards. In that moment Thomas jumped back and stared above my line of sight towards
the top of my car. I assumed a rock, or heavy piece of wood or debris had been thrown by the
violent winds on top of my car, until I saw Thomas’s face.His cries and banging hands ended abruptly, and he stared, longingly above my car, and even
though I couldn’t hear him, I could see him begging with outstretched arms towards the top of
my vehicle. Begging for salvation, begging for his mother. I knew what he was seeing. They had
come to save him.

Part 4

I had to see them before they saved him, before the tornado disappeared. Even if I couldn’t see
them, it would be enough for them to know I knew that they were there. I grabbed the door
handle to the car, breathing deeply, waiting to see the creature that had come to offer its promise
of safety to the child I brought into danger. I held the handle tight, before swinging the door
open, which took little effort as the violent winds of the cyclone ripped the door away from my
hand. I stepped out of the car and turned to look towards the roof. Debris and sand pelted my
face and eyes, but I could see it. I saw the being on top of my car. The creature so many children
said came to help in the midst of disaster, and it was no angel. Whatever this being was offered
no safety, no comfort; this creature was not here to save the boy I had brought.

As I gazed at this humanoid figure, it’s pale skin, and it’s two emaciated insect-like legs I
completely froze. It stood perfectly upright, with impressive posture, unbothered by the wind and
debris, the ridges in it’s skin where ribs and bone protruded out made my stomach turn, and in
place of arms, two wide, pale almost perfectly circular wing-like structures protruded from either
side of its bony shoulders, revealing wide holes where they protruded from, revealing the ribcage
and spine of what I can only describe as human, visible from behind it. Its exposed spine and ribs
looked like the remains of an autopsy, deep red flesh and organs undulating behind a prison of
bone and tendons. I could only stare, I couldn’t speak. It faced Thomas with outstretched wings,
and gazed down towards him.

I slowly backed away, not knowing whether or not to jump into my car or run in the opposite
direction. I couldn’t be sure of its intentions; all the reports I had read told me these creatures
saved the children they had encountered or offered them comfort in the tornado that destroyed
their homes and killed so many. Did I truly have anything to fear?

Before I could react, through the gusts of wind, the train-like howl of the twister and flying
debris it knew I was behind it, and it quickly turned to face me. I was gazing into its eyes, its
terrible, thin, black eyes and gazed into its maw. It gazed upon me, and I did not feel comfort. I
didn’t feel safe. In place of a mouth, a long, smooth appendage that ended in a sharp, mosquito-
like hypodermic needle extended from a vertical fleshy slit that stretched from the base of its
chin to the space between its beady shark-like eyes.

This creature was not here to save us or help
us.It didn’t move, it gazed in my direction, as though it was waiting for me to speak, or move. As it
stood, unmoving on top of my vehicle, I began to notice something. Towards the top of the
cyclone, surrounding its violent vortex, unmoving figures floating in place as if they were
welded in place around the tornado. Many more of them, with long outstretched wings, and
outstretched legs, hovering around the cyclone like pale fleshy guards standing at their posts. I
began to shake, and cry. I fell to my knees and I sobbed. I couldn’t think about what had
happened to my parents. I couldn’t hear my cries or thoughts over the roar of wind and gusts
from the unforgiving cyclone I had been in the presence of. I held my chest and my face and felt
the burning sensation of dust and dirt being swept into my lungs as I continued to cry, and the
tears on my face blowing away and being consumed by the storm.

I cried, and curled myself into a ball in the grass, waiting for this creature to take me to my
parents. Waiting for the storm, waiting for God to bring me to them and end the suffering I had
experienced all those years ago when they were taken by the unrelenting sky.

As loud as the storm was, eventually I began to hear myself sob. The winds began to tame, and
the sound of the storm began to dissipate. I laid in the grass until the sounds and winds turned
into a gentle breeze, and I uncovered my face and looked into the sky. A sheet of grey, and
white, but no cyclone in sight. The creature was gone. They were all gone, up into the sky
summoned away by the cyclone that had finished its descent and made its mark on the earth. I
stood up, shaking, covered in scratches and bruises from the debris. My eyes burned, I couldn’t
see, but I could hear. I couldn’t hear Thomas,
I couldn’t hear his cries or his pleading for safety, just the calm, pacified wind from the horrors
that had passed us by. I shouted for him, pleaded for him, I searched the area for hours but I
couldn’t find him. That creature knew me. It knew me and it decided it wasn’t done taking from
me, so it took again.

Thomas was never found. I plan to search for the butterfly people again someday, and next time
I’m going to make sure they take me. I’m going to see Thomas again; I’m going to see my
parents again. I’ll have to wait until my release in 2050. I plan to be on good behavior, but
intentionally endangering a child isn’t exactly something they release people from prison for on
good behavior, but my hopes are high.
So make sure, if you hear the cries of a tornado siren, get in your shelters, take it seriously.
There’s more to worry about than the winds and the weather.