The Pampered, Actualized Caterpillar | Teen Ink

The Pampered, Actualized Caterpillar

March 11, 2024
By 4martin SILVER, Pewaukee, Wisconsin
4martin SILVER, Pewaukee, Wisconsin
5 articles 0 photos 0 comments

Favorite Quote:
"When you block a lot it gets people mad because no one practices against a blocking dummy." - Justin Wong


King Madue decides frequently to bring about a new god, and so was the case when he decided to strike paper with pen to create her.  Lepidus laid upon the jungle floor, a newly-born god.  This she knew inherently as was the incentive of his creation, but the next goal on her agenda is equally simple, survive.  Lepidus, initially believing that something had gone wholly wrong with her creation, could barely move and is forced to inch and wriggle her way upon the earth, until she finds a tree and begins to climb.  As she climbed higher and higher up the tree, her cynicism grew.  

“How am I to bring about the prosperity of my order if unable to simply walk like so many others?”  She irked, bluntly.

Higher and higher, cautiously awaiting some feeling of relief or understanding, she continued to move.  Step by step, inch by inch.  Until the light was close, and she felt it was time for her greatness to be realized.  She pushed up through the last of the leaves in her way, until before her was the most beautiful view of the forest that no other creature yet created could encounter.  But, nothing happened.  

Distraught, Lepidus began to gorge herself on the leaves around her, for her vitriol had pent up long enough, and she’d decided it was time to show the world how she feels.  She ate and ate and ate.  Her time as a gourmand lasted until the very eve of that night, and unsurprisingly, it didn’t make her feel much better to have devoured her surroundings.  The whole forest had been stripped of its leaves, and she ended right where she started.  The beautiful view, now destroyed and tarnished.  Large glassy orbs of tears grew from her eyes as she realized the destruction she’d caused, and, in her depression, she decided the solution was to remove herself.  So, she locked herself away to a tightly constricted cell where she couldn’t hurt anyone.  

Hours, days, and weeks went by with the rest of the forest reviving and Lepidus’ tears filling the cage as she cried ever on.  Her feelings changed and edited her shape and form, but she was not thinking about that during the time.  After 20 long days and 20 long nights, it was time to break free.  The shell shook quite violently for over an hour before breaking where Lepidus nearly fell, but holding on tight, she began to look around at the newly reforested surroundings.  And the sight gave her such glee that she immediately let go and let the forest take her, but right before hitting the ground, something unusual happened.  

A feeling of uneasiness in her chest grew into a sense of control in her back.  And, right before hitting the soft embrace of nature, she felt her body bloom into a parachute capable of carrying itself on the wind itself.  She realized at that moment that her purpose from now on was not to bother the land below any longer, and she became determined to never lay her body on the forest again.  At the same time, she concluded to never consume the leaves of plants again.  And, instead, that her sole source of nourishment would become the sweet nectar from only the most gentle of flowers.  It was at this very moment that she felt complete in the understanding of her own purpose.


The author's comments:

Never stop dreaming. Fiction is the juice of humanity, and the anthropological roots of literature in its entirety.  Written mostly in one-shot. Revised over 4 days.


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