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| source: http://www.supercoloring.com/pages/swallowtail-butterfly-and-caterpillar/ |
Once upon a time, there were two caterpillars, Hiromi and Aylssa who were thick as thieves, two peas in a pod, friends 'til the end. Everyday they would play together, munch on leaves together and just sit and talk.
Hiromi: One day I want to travel the world and see everything there is to see.
Aylssa: (shrugs shoulders) Eh, I want to stay right here. (pats the ground) Everything I need is right here.
Hiromi: You mean, you're not a little bit curious of what's out there?
Aylssa: Hiromi, not all of us have these ridiculously high aspirations for ourselves. I know what I want, and what I want is here. You need to get your head out of the clouds with your daydreaming about the world. How do you plan on seeing this world? You can barely walk down the path to my home without collapsing in the heat of exhaustion.
Hiromi listened to her friend. It was true that she could only walk so far before she got tired, and maybe, this is all here was. But then one day, as Hiromi was walking towards Aylssa's home, something fluttered past her. Hiromi stopped and looked up. Again, this something fluttered past her and landed ever so gently on a flower. Hiromi stood up tall to take a better look, she never seen anything like it. It had large wings with a pattern of bright colors, and slowly sipped the nectar from the flower.
Hirmoi: Wow!
Large-winged thing: (looks up) Oh hello, Hiromi!
Hiromi: How do you know my name?!
Large-winged thing: (lands in front of Hiromi) It's me, Chima!
Hiromi: Chima?! What happened to you?
Chima: Well I always said that I was born to fly. Well, apparently I was really born to fly.
Hiromi: (inspects Chima) But how?
Chima: I really don't know, one day I got really tired and cold so I built a sleeping bag climbed in and when I awoke, bam! (grins) I got wings!
Hiromi: Oh, I can use some wings to see the world.
Chima: Well if it happened to me it can happen to you. All you got to do is ask.
Hiromi: Ask who?
Chima: (smiles) Just ask.
As Chima flies away, and Hiromi rushes to Alyssa's home. Alyssa is already munching on a leaf.
Hiromi: Chima has wings!
Alyssa: What?
Hiromi: Chima has wings! He wanted to fly, and he got wings. That's how I can see the world. I'm gonna ask for wings too!
Alyssa: (rolls her eyes) Ah, we're back to this traveling thing. Well, get your wings and go, fly away. I'll be right here, waiting for you.
Hiromi: But don't you want to come with me?
Alyssa: I told you my home is here. I'm happy right where I am.
Hiromi: But we're friends we've done everything together.
Alyssa: Then stay and we can continue to do everything together.
Hiromi listens to Alyssa, but there is a yearning deep within her to sprout wings and go out and see the world. Later, as Hiromi walks back home, she becomes cold and tired. Something tells her to make a sleeping bag and get in. So she does and falls into a deep, deep sleep.
Hiromi wakes up to what she believes is the next day, but something isn't right, or is it? She feels different, changed in some way, but well rested. As she crawls from out of her sleeping bag, she sees she really has changed. She has wings, colorful ones like Chima's! She flutters her wings and just like a pro, flies away toward Alyssa's house.
Alyssa is in the garden sipping water when all of a sudden something flutters past her. She looks up and sees nothing so she returns to sipping the water. Again, something flutters past her. She looks up and sees this thing with large colorful wings land gracefully onto a flower and drink it's nectar.
Alyssa: Hey, watch it!
Hiromi: (smiles) It's me, Hiromi!
Alyssa: (backs up) Hiromi?
Hiromi: (lands in front of Alyssa) Yes, Alyssa, it's really me.
Alyssa: What kind of witchcraft have you gotten yourself into? You've been gone for so long, and you come back like this?!
Hiromi: I've been gone a long time?
Alyssa: Yes, a long, long time! I've been looking and asking about you.
Hiromi: Well, I-I guess a change like this would take some time. (grins and strikes a pose) But don't you like?
Alyssa: You look crazy, like a crazy, fluttery thing! Is this what you wanted?
Hiromi: W-well, yes, but I wanted you to be happy for me.
Alyssa: Huh? Well, I'm not. (pats the ground) We belong right here. Not up there.
Alyssa walks away and Hiromi follows, her head hanging low and her gait cumbersome by her large wings. Hiromi spends the whole day and the next and the next walking with Alyssa never once attempting to fly. Then one morning, as Hiromi makes her daily wobble toward Alyssa's place, something flutters past her. She looks up and sees Chima.
Chima: What are you going down there?
Hiromi: Walking. (pats the ground) This is where I belong.
Chima: According to who?
Hiromi: Alyssa. She doesn't want to grow wings, she thinks the whole idea is silly.
Chima: Well, what do you want?
Hiromi: I thought I wanted to see the world, but to do that I would have to leave Alyssa. We've been friends for so long, and I just want her to be happy.
Chimia: Hmmmm. (lands besides Hiromi) It looks like Alyssa has taken care of her own happiness. The question is, who is taking care of yours?
As Chima flies away, Hiromi thinks about what he said. Suddenly, she spreads her wings and flies the rest of the way to Alyssa's house. Alyssa looks up and sees her.
Alyssa: You're back to being up in the clouds, I see.
Hiromi: Alyssa, this is who I am. Just as, you are someone who loves the ground, I am someone who loves the air. You don't have to accept it, but I do. (lands in front of Alyssa) Just as you can't change for me, I can't go back for you.
Alyssa: (tears well up) I never wanted to see this day come. You're right. It is time for you to have your own life. You belong up there, and I down here. When you were gone all that time, I learned how to be without you, so, I'll be just fine. I just don't know if I will ever find someone like you again.
Hiromi: (smiles) And I don't know if I'll ever find someone like you either.
The two embrace, each giving the other a peck on the cheek. Hiromi spreads her wings and flies away.
Hiromi never returned to the ground; she traveled the world just like she wanted. A long the way she met new friends big and small who loved the air just like her. Alyssa remained grounded, and slowly she made friends with others who loved living on the land, just like her. Every now and again, Alyssa would think about Hiromi, and then, if by magic, she would feel something flutter past her and smile as she watched her old friend fly by.
THE END
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