The Feat of a Worm
Once upon a time, I thought I was nothing more than a worm with feet.
I had more legs than I could count. I had fur all over my body.
I spent all of my time eating and curling up into a tight little ball when I was afraid. I was scared of lots of things. Sometimes birds would frighten me because they wanted to eat me.
I would roll up and look like a round pill. Some little children found some of my friends and put them in a glass jar and took them to a school.
I didn't know what they were going to do with them.
One day I got so full of eating leaves that I could hardly move.
I had worked so hard that all I could think about was to take a nap.
I found out that I could do something that I had never done before.
I began making tiny strong string and spun a cozy sleeping bag for myself.
I felt safe and warm and thought that the birds and the little children with glass jars would never bother me again.
I always thought that being a worm with feet was no fun. It took too long to go from one place to another. I was terrified of falling off the leaves and landing on the ground where big feet walked. People always thought I was ugly and I was glad to hide in my own little world!
I was having fun hiding for a long time, but when I awoke, I was different. I had arms! They were long and beautiful. I only had six legs.
I could count that high. I had long pretty eyelashes on the top of my eyes.
I felt so good about myself that I started to clap my hands, my long colorful arms. I was so surprised to see the colorful lines and spots all over my body.
The more I clapped my hands together for joy, the further away from the ground I moved. I was flying! I could go from one place to another by just clapping my hands faster and faster. Sometimes I would just sit and wave at the little children who were going home with their empty jars.
I found my friends who had spent those long weeks in school, and they had arms, too. They told me how exciting it was to show children how caterpillars turn into butterflies.
I didn't feel so bad about being a worm with feet after that, because
I thought: "How lucky I am to know different ways of living
And to make children happy!"
morey 9/25/85
