Scaredy Caterpillar

Izba, the magical cat, was walking in the woods when a butterfly flew up and asked for help in a breathless voice. The butterfly explained that a friend was in danger, and she needed to contact the Marsh Wizard, Fern.

Izba asked the insect to rest on his fez while he dashed to Fern’s home. Arriving just as Fern was about to set off on a forest walk, Izba informed the wizard of the butterfly’s plea for help. Tilly, the butterfly, told Fern a caterpillar refused to make a cocoon because it did not want to change.

Bidding goodbye to Izba, Fern and the butterfly headed swiftly into the trees. Fern was greeted by a host of insects who explained that they had tried to tell the caterpillar that change was nature’s way and nothing to fear.

Fern walked over to the bush where the creature sat eating a delicious juicy leaf and introduced herself. The caterpillar turned his head away as if to ignore her. Fern searched through her pockets and found what she was looking for—a seed.

“Do you know this seed will grow into a lovely sunflower next spring?” asked the wizard.
“So what? I’m not fond of sunflowers. They taste bitter,” then returned to eating its mulberry leaf.
“Without change, we cannot grow. When we change, we experience wonders we could never imagine,” said Fern, sitting next to the caterpillar.

“What of the wonders I experience now, like eating this delicious leaf? After I change, I won’t be able to do that anymore.”

Fern sat silently, thinking about the worm’s words. He did have a point, after all. She needed to choose her words carefully.

“Your words show wisdom behind them,” replied Fern. “I cannot tell you that nectar’s sweet aroma and intoxicating flavor are better than your leaf.

However, it has been said that one sip of nectar is like eating an entire forest of mulberry trees,” whispered the wizard.
The caterpillar’s eyes grew massive. “An entire forest?” said the worm.

Fern winked. “That’s what I’ve been told. But then again, I wouldn’t know since I don’t have the luxury of such wonders,” she said. “I see butterflies darting about from one blossom to the next. Each time, they seem excited to move on. Perhaps what they tell me is true,” said Fern.

The caterpillar put down his leaf and gazed about the forest floor. Winged creatures fluttered between blossoms. “Perhaps you are correct. Perhaps experiencing change is how life is meant to be,” said the worm. “I think that failing to change as nature has intended is a living death. Neither one nor the other,” said the caterpillar.

“Wiser words I have not heard,” said Fern with an enormous grin. The caterpillar thanked the wizard for her counsel, crawled up an overhanging twig, and began to spin its chrysalis. Before sealing its opening, he asked Fern if he might visit her after his change.

“By all means,” replied the wizard, then stood and headed home. Fern had a visitor a few weeks later, and the two talked for hours.

But that’s a tale for another time…