Over the front door, a chrysalis hangs. Monarch. Green jade lantern with a seam of gold, balanced in its little hook. I open the door and it sways just slightly, steadying again, as if nothing at all can disturb its long dream.

It changes there, unseen. Inside, the body is rewritten, cells unspooling, wings folded like secret letters. From the outside, only stillness, except for the shimmer of gold dots, like stars pinned to its surface.

Every time I step out, I look up. A reminder. A spell. The threshold feels different with this little guardian over it, a quiet companion of the in between. Doorways are always a kind of crossing. This one now more so.

Soon it will split, and from silence will come the crackle of wings, orange and black, lifting into air. For now, I pass under it, carrying the hush of transformation into my day.

# number_converter.py
# Works in Pydroid 3 (Android Python environment)

import inflect

# Create engine for number-to-words
p = inflect.engine()

# Function to convert to Roman numerals
def to_roman(num):
    if not (0 < num < 4000):
        return “Roman numerals only support 1–3999”
    values = [
        (1000, “M”), (900, “CM”), (500, “D”), (400, “CD”),
        (100, “C”), (90, “XC”), (50, “L”), (40, “XL”),
        (10, “X”), (9, “IX”), (5, “V”), (4, “IV”), (1, “I”)
    ]
    result = “”
    for val, symbol in values:
        while num >= val:
            result += symbol
            num -= val
    return result

# Function to convert number to binary
def to_binary(num):
    return bin(num)[2:]

# Function to convert number to hexadecimal
def to_hex(num):
    return hex(num)[2:].upper()

# Function to convert number to words
def to_words(num):
    return p.number_to_words(num)

# Main interactive loop
def main():
    while True:
        try:
            num = int(input(“\nEnter a number (or -1 to quit): “))
            if num == -1:
                print(“Goodbye!”)
                break

            print(“\nChoose conversion:”)
            print(“1. Roman Numerals”)
            print(“2. Binary”)
            print(“3. Hexadecimal”)
            print(“4. Words”)

            choice = input(“Enter choice (1-4): “)

            if choice == “1”:
                print(“Roman Numeral:”, to_roman(num))
            elif choice == “2”:
                print(“Binary:”, to_binary(num))
            elif choice == “3”:
                print(“Hexadecimal:”, to_hex(num))
            elif choice == “4”:
                print(“Words:”, to_words(num))
            else:
                print(“Invalid choice!”)

        except ValueError:
            print(“Please enter a valid integer.”)

if __name__ == “__main__”:
    main()