The Caterpillar That Wouldn’t Change
by Nancy Mure

EXCERPT

It was another beautiful day in the field. Wildflowers looked up at the sun as day turned into night. The warm glow glistened through the trees in shades of orange and yellow. The wind blew gently. The crickets chirped.

Nelle and Franny crept along and were quite full. They were caterpillars. Each day at sunrise they crawled along the branches to eat leaves. At sunset they crawled home to sleep.

The next morning as they inches along, Franny said to Nelle, “Some day we’ll turn into butterflies.”

“What do you mean?” Nelle stopped so quickly her body turned into a high upside-down U.

“We grow until it’s time to change,” Franny told her as she started to munch on a leaf. “Change? Do I really have to change?” Nelle asked.

“You must. That’s what caterpillars do,” said Franny.

“Why?” asked Nelle.

“Because you can grow and change. Wouldn’t you like to be a beautiful butterfly some day?”

“I want to stay the way I am,” Nelle insisted with a bounce of her antennae. Franny huffed and crept along.

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