WORDS TO USE: dragon – radish – caterpillar – fog – blue
Once upon a time, in a land far away, lived a caterpillar named Matilda. She knew her life would change all too soon, and it was scary just thinking about it. She liked living in her bush and had a favorite branch she crawled up and down. She couldn’t imagine not doing this anymore.
As she opened her eyes this morning, there was a strange fog in her forest. She could barely see to the end of her branch. If she moved too fast, she feared she would lose her balance and fall off. So, she dug her tiny, tiny feet into the branch and tried to stay as still as she could.
Suddenly, the world around her seemed to shudder, shake, vibrate. She struggled not to move, but it was hard. What was happening? “Oh, make it stop!” she cried out, afraid no one could hear her soft voice.
It happened again. The earth beneath her tree shook. Her tree shook as well. She fought hard not to lose her grip on her branch. If she fell to the ground… Well, she didn’t even want to think about what might happen.
Then she saw what was causing all the turmoil in her world. It was that silly blue dragon who had recently appeared in her forest. He wasn’t as big as some dragons she’d seen. Really only the size of a bush, but he had long, bird-like wings and fluttered about recklessly. Like now. One of his wings hit her tree. Hit the branch she was clinging to.
She fell right onto his head, onto his nose. She dug in her small feet and glared at him, right in his startled eyes. Even though he couldn’t hear her, she gave him a piece of her mind. “Look what you’ve gone and done! You’ve knocked me off my branch!” She pulled in a breath and continued, “If I’d fallen to the forest floor, you would have trampled me, no doubt!”
He crossed his golden eyes and looked at her. Then he smiled goofily, amused with what he’d done. Silly dragon!
While she tried to figure out how to keep hanging onto him, he opened his mouth. He didn’t shove out his long tongue to lick her, thank the stars! But as he drew in a breath, a weird smell overcame her. Something like a radish,maybe. A knight riding through the forest not long ago had been chomping down on one, and it had smelled just awful.
“Please put me back where I belong,” she quietly pleaded, not expecting him to understand.
To her surprise, he smiled again. Before she could get a better grip on his nose, he fluttered up higher. He stopped mid-air right next to her favorite spot and cocked his head. Enough to cause her to slip sideways and land exactly where she wanted to be.
As she regained her hold on the branch, he shifted away and smiled once more. “Sorry, m’lady,” he said, “didn’t mean to bother you.”
With that, he flew away, leaving her shocked that she’d heard him. Life could certainly be strange sometimes. At least she was back where she belonged.
