The Caterpillar
Eric
the caterpillar was munching his way through a leaf. It was a very tasty leaf too. He didn’t think much whilst he munched
away. He did however appreciate the
flavour and textures of the leaf as he bit into it and munched it into a pulp
to be easily digested in his little stomach. He gave thanks to the tree for its gift as he moved onto the next
leaf. On the journey to the next leaf he
just noticed how weary his legs felt and wished that the leaves were nearer
together. He perked up when he got to
the next leaf as he again enjoyed the flavours and textures in his mouth. His weariness returned when it was time to
move towards the next leaf. He felt the
effort of lifting each of his 16 legs in unison and collaboration with each
other. He wished there was a better way
of living. One that had more opportunity
for eating the leaves he loved and less of the boring tedious and useless trek
in between.
Eric
had heard stories of having to move from one tree to another and spent much
time dreading that happening to him. The
stories had many endings – some happy and others sad. However, for Eric the common thread of all
the stories was the great effort required to achieve the goal. To him it felt like too much effort just to
eat another leaf or two. He couldn’t
understand why any caterpillar would ever want to do such a thing. He was thinking about this happening to him
when he realised that he could neither move forward nor back. He tried to move each of his legs in
turn. Each seemed to be stuck. He pulled, he pushed, he fought, he shouted
out with frustration. None of this
seemed to work. He tried again and again,
and he was still stuck. He sat quietly
thinking that if he conserved his energy that in a few hours he might be able
to make a break for it. For that reason,
he closed his eyes and went to sleep. A
few hours later when he woke, he was reminded of his predicament when he
realised he could not move. He took a deep breath in and with every ounce of
his being on his out breath he pulled, he pushed, he struggled. But he was still stuck. He wondered if he needed a longer sleep, and, therefore, once again he closed his eyes and went to sleep. This time he slept for many hours. Eric’s dreams were strange and, if his legs
allowed him, he’d have been tossing and turning in his sleep.
On
waking Eric tried do move and again was reminded of his situation when not one
of his legs budged from the spot. He did
consider another sleep but thought he might try another strategy before closing
his eyes again. He could see other
caterpillars nearby and shouted to them to help him. They didn’t seem to hear him and just
continued munching their leaves. He
shouted louder and still he got no response. He shouted until he was hoarse and still he had no response. He felt sure they could hear him. Especially when he remembered the times when
other caterpillars had had similar difficulties and he’d ignored them. He had been too busy munching the leaves, and
anyway he always thought some other caterpillar would go to their aid. Not one caterpillar came to help him. He really didn’t know what to do. He slept
some more, he pulled, he pushed, he struggled, and he screamed. Nothing seemed to work, and he remained stuck
to the spot.
Finally,
as struggling and shouting hadn’t worked, Eric looked around him. He started to explore more fully the situation
he was in. He even relaxed realising his
struggling was futile. Taking each leg
in turn he looked at what was holding them. He had never seen anything like it before. Each leg was entwined with a very fine silver
silk. As he looked around him, he
realised he was within a web of this fine silk. A web which stretched far into the distance. He even noticed other creatures stuck in the
web. He also realised that the more they
struggled and the more they strained the tighter the silk pulled around them
and the less likely they were to be able to get away.
Looking
further afield gave Eric something to do. He started to notice other creatures and the world around him. He noticed the colours, the movements and
heard the sounds from all around. He
also started to realise that he might never get free and started to reflect on
his life. He did remember the good times, including the really scrumptious leaves he’d eaten. He also remembered the times he regretted his
actions. The times he’d ignored others' calls for help. He also realised he
could be a bit of a grump some of the time. Even when eating the scrumptious leaves, he’d find something to complain
about. If the complaining wasn’t
directed at the outside world, then he managed to find things about himself to
complain about. He was too lazy, too
fat, too slow. Wasn’t he now realising
he was too selfish. After many days he
realised that he wasn’t all that bad. He
had remembered all the good things about himself. He remembered his positivity, enthusiasm and
sense of fun. He remembered his
dedication to finding the perfect leaf and the gratitude he had for the trees
for their gifts.
At
the end of a very tiring day, where Eric had managed a whole day accepting his
perfection, he slipped into a very deep sleep. He slept very soundly and very long. On waking he was very surprised and a little frightened about what he
found. Had he died he wondered? Because he felt different – he felt different
inside and felt different on the outside too. He certainly looked very different. That was why he thought he’d died because he no longer looked like the 16-legged
Eric that he had been before he went to sleep. Something miraculous had happened. Because he had two huge beautiful wings of rainbow colours and no longer
seemed to be tied to the web of silk.
Slowly he felt within himself to every part of his being. He felt very different and yet it certainly
felt like him. Slowly he imagined moving
one of the beautiful wings and he was shocked to see the wing on his right move
ever so gently. He wondered what would
happen next and then suddenly he felt a slight breeze and was terrified as it
lifted him away from the web and into the air. Having realised from before that if he struggled it usually made the
situation worse, he relaxed into his new body. He allowed the wind to carry him and even experimented with moving his
wings. He found by moving them he could
alter the direction he was going. He
also found that his eyes no longer just saw the green leaves; now he could see
the colourful flowers all around.
As he
landed on his first red flower he realised how much fun he was going to have
with his new body. He realised that as a
caterpillar he had really thought his life was over and that he was going to
end his days caught in the fine web of silk – but that had only been the means to
his wonderful new body and life. He
realised he could release his old ways and really make a difference in the
world by visiting as many flowers as he could and really seeing and enjoying
the world around him. He didn’t know
what would come next but made a promise to himself to just enjoy where he was
at that moment in time and worry about the future one day a time.
Alison
Smith
Landscaping
Your Life
Previous stories shared so far this week have
included; The Right Path, The Wave, and The Stone.
