Meela was a caterpillar. A big fat green caterpillar. She lived in a land where magic ruled and where every caterpillar waits for the day when they can turn into a big beautiful, colorful butterfly, just like their parents. After their metamorphosis from ugly caterpillar to beautiful butterfly, they have carte blanche to perform any kind of magic they want. Right now, all the caterpillars’ magic was restricted to making food appear.
“Food, green beautiful food, please appear for me to eat,” Meela said. She heard some snickers from her caterpillar sisters and brothers. Her incantations were never the best. She was never creative enough to make better magic spells or even make them rhyme like everyone else. Poof! Green leaves appeared before her and she started gnawing on them. Well, her spells never got her the best leaves, but they worked.
“Hey, Meela, aren’t you ever going to graduate from those baby spells?” Sigma called out. Sigma was a contemptuous butterfly who always thought he was better than everyone else. His comment stung Meela to her green skin, but she put on a nonchalant appearance so she wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of seeing her hurt. She continued eating her green leaves.
“Hey Meela, are you also deaf?” called out Sigma. He was provoking her. Meela tried her hardest to remain indifferent.
“Cool it, Sigma.” Auga said. “Can’t you see Meela doesn’t want a donnybrook? Not everyone wants a fight all the time like you.” Sigma stuck out his small green tongue at her.
“Thanks Auga,” Meela said gratefully.
“Hey, what are best caterpillars for? I’m tired of doing magic for now. Let’s move over to that rife branch with those juicy green leaves?” Meela and Auga slowly inched to the next branch. The branch was overflowing with dark green leaves, Meela’s favorites. She started on a leaf and savored its green taste.
Suddenly, the sky turned a stygian color. The blue beautiful day turned to gray and an ominous color of red. Every caterpillar looked up and even Sigma looked scared. Then just as suddenly as it came, the sky turned back to big and blue. The only vestige that proved that the caterpillars didn’t imagine the sky changing color was that more leaves appeared on everyone’s branches. Then, everyone knew what happened.
“It must have been Imma,” Meela whispered with awe. Imma was a cosmopolitan caterpillar. She performed the best magic and was the biggest and greenest caterpillar in all the land. She was also very generous. Everyone said that when she turned into a butterfly, she would be as bright and as colorful as the sun. Even though Imma was the most respected and most popular caterpillar, she was never an interlocutor. She never participated in any conversations, and instead of making her look like a stuck-up, it gave her an air of mystery.
Meela and Auga chewed happily on the gift Imma had given them all. An electric pulse passed through Meela. She looked up and saw Slither the snake hanging from the branch above her. Meela nudged Auga and they slowly inched away, trying not to be seen. Slither was a horrible creature; he was a brigand. It was rumored that he would steal anything, even a caterpillar’s magic. No one liked to be around him.
Slither’s friend Em was even worse. Em was generally harmless, but always liked to argue with the caterpillars. One time, Meela made the mistake of talking to him and somehow the discussion of the proper nomenclature for butterflies turned into a bitter argument. Slither would use sophistry and make Meela say things she didn’t mean and then twist her words around like a twisted ankle. Well, at least he never used procrustean means to make someone agree with him.
But it was too late. Slither spotted them and smiled. It sent a shill up Meela’s body. Suddenly, she felt sick and lost her appetite, which was not normal for a caterpillar. Caterpillars eat all day and all night; eating being their only objective to turn into a butterfly.
“Food, Food, green beautiful food, appear.” Meela whispered, fearing the worst. And it was true. Slither stole her magic! How was she ever going to turn into a butterfly without her magic?
continued next week…
Vocabulary
- metamorphosis- transformation or dramatic change
- carte blanche- unlimited power to act
- incantations- a recited magical spell
- contemptuous- arrogant and rude
- nonchalant- being unconcerned or indifferent
- donnybrook- a fight
- rife- abundant and overflowing
- stygian- dark and forbidding
- vestige- evidence of something that once existed
- cosmopolitan- worldly and sophisicated
- interlocutor- someone who participates in a conversation
- brigand- a robber
- nomenclature- naming system in art or science
- sophistry- a misleading argument
- procrustean- conformity by violent means