Word: Caterpillar

caterpillar

[ kat-uh-pil-er, kat-er- ]

noun

1. the wormlike larva of a butterfly or a moth.

2. a person who preys on others; extortioner.

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The sound of tiny feet running through the house alerted Michelle that her son, Tim, had just returned from school.  She let out a happy sigh and got ready to meet the young boy.  He ran into the room with his backpack bouncing behind him and a small plastic container in his hands.

“Mommy, guess what we did.” He blurted out instead of a greeting.

“What did you do?”

“You hafta guess.” Tim was bouncing on his heels with excitement. 

Michelle could see the container held an assortment of twigs, grass and leaves.  That and the holes in the container’s lid gave her enough information to figure it out.  But, it was still nice to humor her seven year old.

“Hm, did you…draw a picture?”

“Nooo.” He said between giggles.

“Did you watch a movie?”

“Uh-uh.”

“Well, then I just don’t know.  What did you do in school?”

“We caught caterpillars!  See, I got one here!”

He held out the container for Michelle to see.  Sure enough there, sitting on a twig and nibbling on a leaf, was a small green speckled caterpillar.  Tim held the insect up proudly, like it was the greatest pet in the world.

“And, and, and guess what?  Mrs. Fallow says that if we take care of our caterpillars for long enough, then we’ll get a really big surprise.”

“Oh did she now?  What do you think you’ll get?”

Tim thought as long and hard as a boy his age could.  “I dunno, but I bet it’s ice cream.”

“Ice cream?  Why ice cream?”

The boy shrugged.  “I like ice cream.”

Michelle held back her laughter at her son’s antics.  Of course seeing a caterpillar changing into a butterfly would be practically magic for such a young child.  She just had to keep him from finding out through other means.  That would be easy enough.  She just had to be careful about his internet usage.  It felt almost wrong to keep him off sites for animals for the months the metamorphosis would take, but she could do it.

“Okay, well, just remember to get the surprise you have to take good care of him, okay?  Make sure he has lots of sticks to crawl on and leaves to eat, okay?”

“Okay!  Um, should I get other bugs to?  To make sure he doesn’t get lonely?”

“You know, I think he’ll be just fine by himself.  Besides, he has you to keep him company.  Just don’t try and play with him, okay?  He might not like that.  You can talk to him though.  He looks like a really good listener.”

Tim looked closely at the still eating caterpillar.  He turned to container around a bit.  Then he looked back up at his mother.

“How can you tell?  He doesn’t have ears.”

This time Michelle did not hide her laughter.  She did manage to limit it though. 

“Moms can just tell these things.  Now go and put him in your room and get cleaned up.  Then you can tell me all about what happened today, and how you got your new friend, okay?”

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Anyone remember doing this as a kid?  I vaguely remember having a book about bugs.  It came with a  little plastic bug catching terrarium thing.  I don't remember if I actually used it, but I remember having it.