HP
smiled and looked at me with a look only he could muster, the ‘and you want to
tell me, what?’
‘Just
listen,’ I said with a grin I couldn’t hide
"To
what?"
"My
story. You are always telling me stories"..
"Ok
..if you must…"
I
looked at my coffee, cleared my throat and began…
…the
sun burst over the edge of the leaf, sending a stream warm rays that touched Mr
C.A.T. Erpillar’s face.
He
stretched and yawned. He wriggled his first leg and made sure that he didn’t
miss one all the way to the back.
He
crawled to the top of the leaf his tree, which stood in the middle of all the
other trees. He gazed over the entire forest. He lived on a branch of the
largest oak tree in the forest. He turned half his body around and looked back
down the branch; Mr. C.A.T. Erpillar loved this time of the day.
He
thought of all the fresh new and juicy leaves that had sprung up overnight.
Smiling he began to walk down the branch to the big trunk, he looked forward to
the short trip as he would be able to see and greet his neighbours.
As
he moved slowly along the branch, he saw Mr C.A. Meleon. Who was just waking up,
“Good morning Mr C.A. Meleon, what a beautiful day it is” .He said in his most
cheery voice.
Mr
C.A. Meleon just grunted and followed his progress down the branch with one beady
eye. When he thought Mr C.A.T. Erpillar could not hear him he would mutter, in a
gruff voice, “Silly Worm, what’s so beautiful about it, what could he possibly
know, he’s just an UUUUUGLY worm!”
Mr
C.A.T. Erpillar just smiled and thought to himself, “He must have had a bad night
last night.”
As
Mr C.A.T. Erpillar moved further down the branch, he saw Miss S P. Ider hanging
from her tread. He greeted her in the same cheery voice “Good morning Miss S P.
Ider, beautiful day isn’t it?
She
scuttled back up her thread and just stared at him. When she thought he could
not hear her she looked at Mr C. A. Meleon and shook her head. “Silly Worm,
doesn’t he know how much work has to be done today, what does he know he’s just
an UUUUGLY worm!”
Mr
C.A.T. Erpillar just smiled and thought to himself, “She has so much to do in a
day, what with fixing her web all the time.”
When
Mr. C.A.T. Erpillar reached the top of the tree, where the leaves were the softest,
he began to eat and think about all the things his neighbours had said to him.
He wondered mostly about what they meant when they said,” He was and UUUUGLY
worm”. He had never seen himself so there was no way he could know.
As
the sun began to set on the edge of the forest, Mr C.A.T. Erpillar began his journey
home,
When
he saw Miss S P. Ider, “Good Evening Miss S P. Ider I do hope you have pleasant
rest tonight after all the hard work you have done today.”
She
sprang to the centre of her web and snapped at him,” are you trying to be rude,
what would you know all you do is eat and sleep; besides you are just an
UUUUGLY worm!”
Mr
C.A.T. Erpillar just smiled, he felt uncomfortable when creatures said good things
about him and continued along the branch to his leaf.
As
he rounded the corner he saw Mr C.A. Meleon gently rocking backwards and forwards
on his twig, his mouth was half-open and both his eyes were pointing forwards.
Mr C.A.T. Erpillar greeted him in a loud cheery voice, “Good evening Mr C.A. Meleon,
I hope your day was a success,” Just as he spoke the bug at the end of the leaf
flew away. Mr C.A. Meleon glared at Mr C.A.T. Erpillar with one eye. “That was my
supper you frightened away you silly Worm, it is no wonder you are such and
UUUUUGLY worm?”
Feeling
awkward again, Mr C.A.T. Erpillar just smiled, thanked him and went on his way.
That night while they all slept a wild thunderstorm swept through the forest.
The rain lashed at the trees and the huge raindrops smashed against the leaves,
the wind pushed the branches this way and that all night.
Mr
C.A.T. Erpillar slept peacefully through it all, his leaf rode the wind and because
he was under it, no rain touched him,
The
next morning when the sun broke through the clouds and touched his face as
normal he stretched, yawned and wriggled all his feet to the one at time all the
way the back. He began to make his way to the top of the tree as he did every
morning. As he made his way to the trunk of the tree, he notices that all the
creatures were busy and seemed to be up long before him. He walked along the
branch and as usual met Mr C.A. Meleon first.
He
greeted him with a cheery “Good morning Mr C.A. Meleon lovely day isn’t it? But
Mr C.A. Meleon just grunted, “UUUUUUGLY Worm!” and looked away, Miss S P. Ider
didn’t even give him a chance to say hullo” What so lovely about it, just look
what the storm did to my beautiful web. It will take forever to sort it out,
you silly UUUUGLY Worm!”
All
the other creatures snickered and mumbled, “What does he know He’s just an
UUUGLY worm”
Mr
C.A.T. Erpillar just smiled bowed his head and made his way to the top of the tree,
When he got there he did not much feel like eating, he was too preoccupied with
what all his friends in the tree had said about him. As he moved to the tip of
the new soft juicy leaf, he noticed there was a pool of water trapped at the
base of the leaf. He walked over to it and peered in. What stared back at him
suddenly made his tiny little heart very sad? Because there in the water was
his face and yes, it was what he friends had said about him. He was just an
UUUUUUUUGLY worm.
A
tear ran down his cheek and fell into the pool of water making the image even
uglier. He quietly moved off, walking very slowly to the leaf closest to the
end of the branch. He understood now, and just knew he could not go back to his
old house, he just could not face all those creatures he thought were his
friends. He wanted to hide away from them forever.
He
crawled under the leaf, fastened himself to the base of the twig, and began to
wrap himself in his silk. He felt safe there and this way he could sleep and
not have to go back and face the other creatures. The silk got thicker as he
wrapped himself tightly in it, until he could not see a thing. He thought,” if
I can’t see them they can’t see me”.
After
a while, he felt warm and safe. He fell asleep thinking of how much he loved
the creatures in his tree and his tiny little heart gently broke.
After
a long pause HP blurted out
‘Is
that the end?!’ he glared at me
“That’s
a terrible ending, it’s sad and stories must motive and build you up”
“Well
not actually”, I continued, knowing I had him hooked…
When
Mr C.A.T. Erpillar woke up, he felt strangely different. He still could not see a
thing, and so he began to nibble through the silk that he had wrapped around
himself. After a short while he could see the sun, it felt so good on his face.
Struggling a little, he pushed his face through the hole. He had almost
forgotten the other creatures in the tree. He now wanted to get out of his
hiding place and go see his friends. He did not mind that they thought he was
ugly. If they could just get to know each other a little better then they could
see past his looks and get know him as a worm.
He
wriggled and struggled and wriggled and struggled, until half of his body was
out of the wrapping. He took a deep breath and rested a while. Then wriggled
and struggled some more. He thought to himself. “Next time you wrap your self
Mr C.A.T. Erpillar, don’t do it so tightly” He smiled and wriggled some more.
After
a long while, his feet were free and he grabbed onto the underside of the leaf.
He then gently pulled the rest of himself out of the wrapping. As the sun
blazed down on his back, he felt the strangest thing. He looked over his
shoulder and to his total surprise; there on his back were the most magnificent
wings he had ever seen in his life. As soon as he began to flap, he lifted off
the leaf. He quickly stopped and came down to rest again. He took a deep
breath. Deep within himself, he felt a word begin to form, at first he didn’t
recognise it but the more he flapped his wings the louder the word got.
Finally, he found himself shouting aloud…
”But-i-c’nfly!”
He
let go of the leaf and soared into the air. He flew this way and that, and he
tumbled and turned testing his new equipment. Just as he flipped onto his back,
he caught sight of Miss S P. Ider and Mr C.A. Meleon standing on the branch
looking up at him. He chuckled; they had the silliest look on their faces. He
waved and called out to them,
“Hi
there neighbours, an absolutely wondrous day, isn’t it. “
They
both looked at each other, and pointed at him and said.
”
But-he-c’nfly”
As
he flew off over the tops of the trees, they were sure they could hear him
shout.
“To
think, a while ago I was just an UUUUUGLY worm!””
…------…
HP
looked at me and shrugged his shoulders,
“So
what’s the morel of the story, what must I learn?”
‘Well
I thought it was quite obvious, What a Cat Erpillar calls the end,
The
Creator knows is a butterfly!”
