After a full day of play and laughter, Anna and Sophie were ready to wind down and head home for dinner. They had so fun at the park playing with the animals and singing and dancing to the soft music coming from the shops across the street. As they were walking back home, Sophie noticed something small and black moving along the sidewalk. When she got closer, she realized it was a fuzzy, black caterpillar. She thought it looked pretty cute. She wanted to show Anna, but when she turned around to wave her over, Sophie didn’t see her. She yelled Anna’s name, and after a few seconds of silence she finally heard her name being whispered from behind a tree.
When got closer, she finally saw Anna, crouched behind the trunk looking like she saw a ghost. Something must have scared her, but Sophie had no idea what. When she asked Anna what was wrong, Anna pointed to the spot Sophie was just standing in. She was afraid of the caterpillar and wanted someone to step on and kill it.
Sophie told her there was no reason to afraid of the caterpillar, and there was especially no reason to kill it. Anna didn’t believe her; it wasn’t normal to see a caterpillar that looked like that, so something must have been wrong with it. They needed to kill it in case it hurt them or someone else. But Sophie would not let anything happen to this caterpillar. She told Anna to trust her. She would take it with her as a pet and in one month Anna would no longer be afraid of it. She promised. Of course Anna didn’t believe her, but she was too scared to go anywhere near the caterpillar, so she couldn’t stop Sophie from picking it up and bringing it home.
Sophie knew what happened to caterpillars, which is why she was so confident in what she promised Anna. Every day Sophie nurtured the caterpillar by feeding it, giving it fresh air, and even singing softly to it. The end of the month drew near, and neither Sophie nor Anna forgot about the promise.
Author’s note: This story was inspired by the video “Krishna Rides Hastin” by Epified. This story details how Krishna’s older brother wanted to kill Hastin the bull since everyone was afraid of Hastin, but Krishna told him not to. Instead, Krishna said that in one month, he would be able to ride Hastin. Every day he fed and played music to the bull to calm him enough so that Krishna could approach him. By the end of the month, Krishna was able to ride him. The moral of the story was to show kindness because it is the biggest strength one could have. In my story, the characters were two little girls, where one was afraid of a caterpillar. The plot mirrors that of the Krishna story, where one girl stops the other from killing the caterpillar and instead nurtures it until it becomes something the other girl is no longer afraid of. Hastin the bull went from aggressive to docile, but since caterpillars are generally harmless, I couldn’t do a change in attitude for the caterpillar, so I incorporated a physical change instead.
When got closer, she finally saw Anna, crouched behind the trunk looking like she saw a ghost. Something must have scared her, but Sophie had no idea what. When she asked Anna what was wrong, Anna pointed to the spot Sophie was just standing in. She was afraid of the caterpillar and wanted someone to step on and kill it.
Sophie told her there was no reason to afraid of the caterpillar, and there was especially no reason to kill it. Anna didn’t believe her; it wasn’t normal to see a caterpillar that looked like that, so something must have been wrong with it. They needed to kill it in case it hurt them or someone else. But Sophie would not let anything happen to this caterpillar. She told Anna to trust her. She would take it with her as a pet and in one month Anna would no longer be afraid of it. She promised. Of course Anna didn’t believe her, but she was too scared to go anywhere near the caterpillar, so she couldn’t stop Sophie from picking it up and bringing it home.
Sophie knew what happened to caterpillars, which is why she was so confident in what she promised Anna. Every day Sophie nurtured the caterpillar by feeding it, giving it fresh air, and even singing softly to it. The end of the month drew near, and neither Sophie nor Anna forgot about the promise.
Anna followed Sophie up to her room, a little hesitant and unsure, but Sophie was smiling so she went anyway. When she walked into the room, Sophie showed her the little home she made for the caterpillar. But Anna was confused because there wasn’t a caterpillar in there. Just then, a black and blue butterfly flew into view; Anna was mesmerized. She loved butterflies.
She asked Sophie where the caterpillar went and why she had a butterfly instead. Sophie explained to Anna that the caterpillar built itself a cocoon so that it could transform into a butterfly. She told Anna that there was no reason to be afraid of caterpillars. They may look weird, but they won’t hurt anyone. All they need is time to grow into beautiful butterflies, but they can’t change form if we get in the way and hurt them before it happens. The only for us to help them is to be kind.
She asked Sophie where the caterpillar went and why she had a butterfly instead. Sophie explained to Anna that the caterpillar built itself a cocoon so that it could transform into a butterfly. She told Anna that there was no reason to be afraid of caterpillars. They may look weird, but they won’t hurt anyone. All they need is time to grow into beautiful butterflies, but they can’t change form if we get in the way and hurt them before it happens. The only for us to help them is to be kind.
Black and blue butterfly: Flickr
Author’s note: This story was inspired by the video “Krishna Rides Hastin” by Epified. This story details how Krishna’s older brother wanted to kill Hastin the bull since everyone was afraid of Hastin, but Krishna told him not to. Instead, Krishna said that in one month, he would be able to ride Hastin. Every day he fed and played music to the bull to calm him enough so that Krishna could approach him. By the end of the month, Krishna was able to ride him. The moral of the story was to show kindness because it is the biggest strength one could have. In my story, the characters were two little girls, where one was afraid of a caterpillar. The plot mirrors that of the Krishna story, where one girl stops the other from killing the caterpillar and instead nurtures it until it becomes something the other girl is no longer afraid of. Hastin the bull went from aggressive to docile, but since caterpillars are generally harmless, I couldn’t do a change in attitude for the caterpillar, so I incorporated a physical change instead.
Bibliography: "Krishna Rides Hastin" by Epified. Youtube.
Hi Lydia! I also watched the Krishna videos, so I love what you did to adapt the Hastin story. I think it was clever to have the change in the creature be a physical one and not one of personality. It was also great to see how Anna started with wanting to kill the caterpillar because it was strange and creepy, but by the end of the story it had become something that she loved. What a great learning experience! Your story is really well written and I enjoyed it. Keep it up!
ReplyDeleteHey Lydia! I watched the Epified - Krishna videos as well and I really enjoyed them. I really enjoyed your retelling of the Hastin story. I appreciate that you kept the theme of the story intact while still making it your own. I think using a caterpillar to a butterfly transformation is perfect for what you were trying to do. Well done!
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