--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: It had butterfly wings, like flakes of…" description: "\"“It had butterfly wings, like flakes of patterned wax. Under the wings it had a hairy body with tiny horns. Its fur looked very dry in the hot summer r..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c7e/ali-shaw-12936_hot-summer_it-had-butterfly-wings-like-flakes-of-pa_644119.jpg" --- # It had butterfly wings, like flakes of patterned wax… ![“It had butterfly wings, like flakes of patterned wax. Under the wings it had a hairy body with tiny horns. Its fur looked very dry in the hot summer rays. It had an ox’s head, no bigger than her thumbnail, with a pink muzzle drawn into a grimace. A white splodge between its nostrils. The…” quote by Ali Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c7e/ali-shaw-12936_hot-summer_it-had-butterfly-wings-like-flakes-of-pa_644119.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c7e/ali-shaw-12936_hot-summer_it-had-butterfly-wings-like-flakes-of-pa_644119.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c7e/ali-shaw-12936_hot-summer_it-had-butterfly-wings-like-flakes-of-pa_644119.jpg) > ““It had butterfly wings, like flakes of patterned wax. Under the wings it had a hairy body with tiny horns. Its fur looked very dry in the hot summer rays. It had an ox’s head, no bigger than her thumbnail, with a pink muzzle drawn into a grimace. A white splodge between its nostrils. The impossible detail of a scar on its bottom lip. There was warmth and a heartbeat in its body like that of a newborn chick.”” [Ali Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ali-shaw/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A vivid, fantastical creature is described in meticulous, sensory detail, emphasizing its hybrid features and fragile existence. **In simple terms:** A strange creature is painted with detailed, delicate description. Key Takeaway Observe and appreciate intricate details in imagination. Themes imagination detail creature design fantasy observation Mood wonderful curious Type descriptive imaginative When to use this quote - creative writing - character design - worldbuilding - artistic inspiration Key Concepts hybrid anatomy sensory imagery fragility life cycles Questions to Reflect On - How does detailed description affect emotional connection? - What does the creature symbolize? ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Butterfly wings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/butterfly-wings/) [Hot summer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hot-summer/) ## Related quotes > [“Covered in shaggy red fur, it looked a little like an orangutan except for its enormous hands and ghastly face.  The moment he met…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-harmon/covered-in-shaggy-red-fur-it-looked-a-little-like-an-orangutan-except/) [Brian Harmon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-harmon/) > [“With his four white paws tucked in and folded underneath his black-and-gray fur, he looked like a perfectly round cushion. I stroked him and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/genki-kawamura/with-his-four-white-paws-tucked-in-and-folded-underneath-his-black/) Genki Kawamura > [ ... on these expanded membranes \[butterfly wings\] Nature writes, as on a tablet, the story of the modifications of species, so truly do all… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-walter-bates/on-these-expanded-membranes-butterfly-wings-nature-writes-as-on-a/) [Henry Walter Bates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-walter-bates/) > [“If the butterfly wings its way to the sweet light that attracts it, it's only becasue it doesn't know that the fire can consume…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deborah-harkness/if-the-butterfly-wings-its-way-to-the-sweet-light-that-attracts-it-it/) [Deborah Harkness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deborah-harkness/) > [“Wow," Puck mused, standing beside me. "The River of Dreams." ... Moons, comets and constellations rippled on the surface, and other, stranger things floated…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julie-kagawa/wow-puck-mused-standing-beside-me-the-river-of-dreams-moons-comets/) [Julie Kagawa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julie-kagawa/) > [In the next few galactic seconds, the fate of the universe will be decided. Life - the ultimate experiment - will either explode into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marshall-savage/in-the-next-few-galactic-seconds-the-fate-of-the-universe-will-be/) Marshall Savage > [“And above it all the butterfly effect. The sure knowledge that the entire life of a human being is like a single day in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-simmons/and-above-it-all-the-butterfly-effect-the-sure-knowledge-that-the/) [Dan Simmons](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-simmons/) > [He is a male butterfly without the wings - the same kind of grace of a very young horse, so angular.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mikhail-baryshnikov/he-is-a-male-butterfly-without-the-wings-the-same-kind-of-grace-of-a/) [Mikhail Baryshnikov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mikhail-baryshnikov/) > [Fractal litigation, whereby the flapping of a butterfly’s wings on one side of the world resulted in a massive compensation claim on the other.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-aylett/fractal-litigation-whereby-the-flapping-of-a-butterfly-s-wings-on-one/) [Steve Aylett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-aylett/) > [“Yes, every evening. Your mother enjoyed it. That evening she chose Inkheart. She always did like tales of adventure – stories full of brightness…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornelia-funke/yes-every-evening-your-mother-enjoyed-it-that-evening-she-chose/) [Cornelia Funke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornelia-funke/) > [“There was this time when I looked at a picture and thought it was a man with horns, but when I stepped up to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/melina-marchetta/there-was-this-time-when-i-looked-at-a-picture-and-thought-it-was-a/) [Melina Marchetta](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/melina-marchetta/) > [“I know you are afraid, mon amour, " he whispered softly, his hands sliding up her rib cage to her breasts. "But I am…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christine-feehan/i-know-you-are-afraid-mon-amour-he-whispered-softly-his-hands-sliding/) [Christine Feehan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christine-feehan/) > [The air is like a butterfly With frail blue wings. The happy earth looks at the sky And sings.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joyce-kilmer/the-air-is-like-a-butterfly-with-frail-blue-wings-the-happy-earth/) [Joyce Kilmer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joyce-kilmer/) > [When, within our souls and psyches we are made aware of a safe but insistent drum beat, repeated like butterfly wings in motion, we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-meeker/when-within-our-souls-and-psyches-we-are-made-aware-of-a-safe-but/) [Mary Meeker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-meeker/) > [“Story is a butterfly whose wings transport us to another world where we receive gifts that change who we are and who we want…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harley-king/story-is-a-butterfly-whose-wings-transport-us-to-another-world-where/) [Harley King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harley-king/) ## More by Ali Shaw > [“It was the touch that made him realize he loved her. Warmth from her scalp. Grease from her locks. He entwined his hand in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ali-shaw/it-was-the-touch-that-made-him-realize-he-loved-her-warmth-from-her/) [Ali Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ali-shaw/) > [“She guiltily found she didn't miss him as much as she missed company in general.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ali-shaw/she-guiltily-found-she-didn-t-miss-him-as-much-as-she-missed-company/) [Ali Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ali-shaw/) > [“A clock ticked somewhere in the darkness. This was the time of night when things seemed unreal, when a thought that could be dismissed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ali-shaw/a-clock-ticked-somewhere-in-the-darkness-this-was-the-time-of-night/) [Ali Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ali-shaw/) > [“The sunset like a blacksmith, was beating the sky into glowing red blades.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ali-shaw/the-sunset-like-a-blacksmith-was-beating-the-sky-into-glowing-red/) [Ali Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ali-shaw/) > [“Sometimes I just can't stop thinking enough to turn off.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ali-shaw/sometimes-i-just-can-t-stop-thinking-enough-to-turn-off/) [Ali Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ali-shaw/) > [“Perhaps you think too hard about what words you're going to use and how to make your mouth say them.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ali-shaw/perhaps-you-think-too-hard-about-what-words-you-re-going-to-use-and/) [Ali Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ali-shaw/) > [“She had felt a collision with him and known that she had wanted this her whole life: to crash for just one moment into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ali-shaw/she-had-felt-a-collision-with-him-and-known-that-she-had-wanted-this/) [Ali Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ali-shaw/) > [“Beeches stood aghast in pools of shed leaves. Silver poplars looked like moonbeams.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ali-shaw/beeches-stood-aghast-in-pools-of-shed-leaves-silver-poplars-looked/) [Ali Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ali-shaw/) > [“Then there were the negatives. How he missed negatives. They were the actual rays of light, bounced straight off a landscape, an object, a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ali-shaw/then-there-were-the-negatives-how-he-missed-negatives-they-were-the/) [Ali Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ali-shaw/) > [“He said human beings were like a wind blowing. He said that sometimes we're loud and sometimes we're a whisper, sometimes we're warm and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ali-shaw/he-said-human-beings-were-like-a-wind-blowing-he-said-that-sometimes/) [Ali Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ali-shaw/) > [“the sky was something she’d so often dreamed of while the hoo-ha of the Sunday service carried on around her. There seemed to her…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ali-shaw/the-sky-was-something-she-d-so-often-dreamed-of-while-the-hoo-ha-of/) [Ali Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ali-shaw/) > [“Writing is like going underwater - thank you for being there when I come back up.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ali-shaw/writing-is-like-going-underwater-thank-you-for-being-there-when-i/) [Ali Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ali-shaw/) > [It didnt take tragedy or war to derail a man. It took only a memory.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ali-shaw/it-didnt-take-tragedy-or-war-to-derail-a-man-it-took-only-a-memory/) [Ali Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ali-shaw/) > [“She dwelled for a moment on a memory from girlhood: smearing her tummy with a spiral of glue, then tipping a whole pot of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ali-shaw/she-dwelled-for-a-moment-on-a-memory-from-girlhood-smearing-her-tummy/) [Ali Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ali-shaw/) > [“Light didn't conduct truth as once he'd thought. There was nothing you could do to preserve truth. Light was only of use as a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ali-shaw/light-didn-t-conduct-truth-as-once-he-d-thought-there-was-nothing-you/) [Ali Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ali-shaw/) [Explore all 44 Ali Shaw quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ali-shaw/) ## More Butterfly wings quotes > [“Story is a butterfly whose wings transport us to another world where we receive gifts that change who we are and who we want…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harley-king/story-is-a-butterfly-whose-wings-transport-us-to-another-world-where/) [Harley King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harley-king/) > [When, within our souls and psyches we are made aware of a safe but insistent drum beat, repeated like butterfly wings in motion, we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-meeker/when-within-our-souls-and-psyches-we-are-made-aware-of-a-safe-but/) [Mary Meeker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-meeker/) > [The air is like a butterfly With frail blue wings. The happy earth looks at the sky And sings.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joyce-kilmer/the-air-is-like-a-butterfly-with-frail-blue-wings-the-happy-earth/) [Joyce Kilmer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joyce-kilmer/) > [“I know you are afraid, mon amour, " he whispered softly, his hands sliding up her rib cage to her breasts. "But I am…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christine-feehan/i-know-you-are-afraid-mon-amour-he-whispered-softly-his-hands-sliding/) [Christine Feehan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christine-feehan/) > [“There was this time when I looked at a picture and thought it was a man with horns, but when I stepped up to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/melina-marchetta/there-was-this-time-when-i-looked-at-a-picture-and-thought-it-was-a/) [Melina Marchetta](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/melina-marchetta/) > [“Yes, every evening. Your mother enjoyed it. That evening she chose Inkheart. She always did like tales of adventure – stories full of brightness…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornelia-funke/yes-every-evening-your-mother-enjoyed-it-that-evening-she-chose/) [Cornelia Funke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornelia-funke/) > [Fractal litigation, whereby the flapping of a butterfly’s wings on one side of the world resulted in a massive compensation claim on the other.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-aylett/fractal-litigation-whereby-the-flapping-of-a-butterfly-s-wings-on-one/) [Steve Aylett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-aylett/) > [He is a male butterfly without the wings - the same kind of grace of a very young horse, so angular.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mikhail-baryshnikov/he-is-a-male-butterfly-without-the-wings-the-same-kind-of-grace-of-a/) [Mikhail Baryshnikov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mikhail-baryshnikov/) > [“And above it all the butterfly effect. The sure knowledge that the entire life of a human being is like a single day in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-simmons/and-above-it-all-the-butterfly-effect-the-sure-knowledge-that-the/) [Dan Simmons](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-simmons/) > [In the next few galactic seconds, the fate of the universe will be decided. Life - the ultimate experiment - will either explode into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marshall-savage/in-the-next-few-galactic-seconds-the-fate-of-the-universe-will-be/) Marshall Savage > [“Wow," Puck mused, standing beside me. "The River of Dreams." ... Moons, comets and constellations rippled on the surface, and other, stranger things floated…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julie-kagawa/wow-puck-mused-standing-beside-me-the-river-of-dreams-moons-comets/) [Julie Kagawa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julie-kagawa/) > [“If the butterfly wings its way to the sweet light that attracts it, it's only becasue it doesn't know that the fire can consume…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deborah-harkness/if-the-butterfly-wings-its-way-to-the-sweet-light-that-attracts-it-it/) [Deborah Harkness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deborah-harkness/) > [ ... on these expanded membranes \[butterfly wings\] Nature writes, as on a tablet, the story of the modifications of species, so truly do all… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-walter-bates/on-these-expanded-membranes-butterfly-wings-nature-writes-as-on-a/) [Henry Walter Bates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-walter-bates/) > [“Allison gave the reporters something more stirring to write about. “Scientist Drops A-Bomb: Blasts Army Shackles,” the Chicago Tribune reported about his remarks. “We…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-lanouette/allison-gave-the-reporters-something-more-stirring-to-write-about/) [William Lanouette](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-lanouette/) > [“A butterfly's wings grow because a caterpillar dared to believe it could fly.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matshona-dhliwayo/a-butterfly-s-wings-grow-because-a-caterpillar-dared-to-believe-it/) [Matshona Dhliwayo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matshona-dhliwayo/) [Browse all 55 Butterfly wings quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/butterfly-wings/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“It had butterfly wings, like flakes of patterned wax. 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