Ali and the caterpillars

Hello, everyone.

    The story that I am going to tell you today is a real story! Yes, a real story. It is the story of a butterfly. Ali finds some eggs on a leaf and follows the progress until the last stage when they are turned into beautiful butterflies.

    Read on and find out about its life.

Ali and the Caterpillars

    Ali stood looking at something. His mother came out in the garden just then to cut some fresh flowers. She saw Ali looking curiously at something and came over to see what it was.

    “What are you staring at, Ali?” she asked him.

    “Look, Mommy, there is something on this leaf,” replied Ali pointing at a leaf.

     His mother looked and sure enough there were some white beadlike things on it. His mother laughed.

    “These are butterfly eggs,” she explained.

    “Will tiny little butterflies come out of it?” Ali asked and added, “I would like to see tiny little butterflies very much.”

    “No, dear,” his mother shook her head and explained, “tiny butterflies don’t come out of the eggs. Caterpillars come out of them.”

     Ali looked confused.

    “Why don’t you watch these eggs everyday and then see what happens, alright?” his mother said and added, “Don’t touch them. Just look at them.”

    Ali nodded his head.

    Everyday Ali came to check the eggs just like his mother had told him.

    One day, he saw that the eggs were gone and instead there were tiny little caterpillars there. They looked so cute and beautiful that he stood there for a long time looking at them. They were green with black and yellow markings on it. They were busy eating away at the leaf on which they were. Soon he got tired of looking and went inside to report to his mother about the caterpillars.

    “Mommy, there are caterpillars there now instead of the eggs,” he reported to his mother.

    “Oh, so the eggs have hatched, is it?” she asked. “Now watch them. They will eat and get fatter every day.”

    “Alright, I will do that,” said little Ali and asked, “then what will happen, Mommy?”

    “You watch them every day and then you will see,” his mother said, mysteriously.

    Ali watched them every day. They grew fatter and fatter. They had to shed their skin because it was getting too small for them and another had developed beneath it. They still kept on eating. Whenever Ali went to look they were always busy eating the leaves.

    After a few days he was surprised to see the caterpillars spinning sort of a thread around themselves. Curious, he ran inside to ask his mother about it.

    “Mommy, the caterpillars are taking out threads from their mouths and winding them round themselves,” he told his mother.

    “Well, darling, they are turning themselves into chrysalis or pupae,” his mother explained. “One is called pupa and many is called pupae. It is also called cocoon.”

    “Oh, then what will happen?” asked little Ali.

    “They will turn into butterflies, of course,” said his mother. “You just watch them and see.”

    And so Ali watched every day, sure enough they had turned into tiny container like things and hung on the branches of the bushes.

    After a few days, Ali was just in time to see one of the butterflies emerge from the chrysalis or pupa. It came out from the pupa looking all wet and weak. It just clung to the pupa remains and then slowly opened its wings as they grew stronger and when it was strong enough it flew away. It looked beautiful. Ali watched it go sadly. He hung his head and went inside feeling very downcast.

    “What’s the matter, Ali?” she asked him, concerned, seeing his sad face.

    “The butterflies are gone,” he said in a small voice.

    His mother laughed.

    “Is that all?” she asked, still laughing. “I wondered what disaster had befallen. You looked so downcast. Don’t worry the butterflies are always laying eggs and the story of the caterpillar is always repeating itself. So you don’t have to worry about that too much, ok? Now, why don’t you have some orange juice and some cookies? That will cheer you up I’m sure.”

    Ali brightened up a little at that. Soon he was himself again and chattering away nineteen to a dozen!

   I hope you liked this story. If so please like and leave a comment in the comment section below. I will appreciate it. Thank you.