The caterpillar was raised by worms.
The worms loved the caterpillar,
But the worms didn't know much
About the caterpillar's nature.
They tried to understand,
And they tried to help as best they could,
But when the caterpillar got really hungry,
All they could understand was that
They had never been so hungry,
And they were happy,
And if the caterpillar wasn't careful,
He would become corpulent and fat.

So in their kind, ignorant, wormy way,
The wonderful worm family
Discouraged the caterpillar from eating too much,
And being too hungry.

The caterpillar was confused,
But he loved his worm family
So he tried his best to eat less and
Not get too hungry.

But the less the caterpillar ate,
The more hungry he got,
Until he was so starving,
He didn't even feel like himself.
He felt sad and sluggish and purposeless.

Then, in the middle of the night,
The caterpillar snuck up to he favourite leafy tree,
To just get a small midnight snack.
Before he knew it though, he had eaten
An entire branch of leaves.

And the caterpillar was still hungry.

He couldn't get enough.
He ate all through the night, and into the next day.
When his worm family awoke,
They saw the caterpillar up in the tree
Eating away.
They tried their best to get the caterpillar to stop,
But it was too late.

Soon with tears in their eyes,
The worms saw they're dear brother
Become sluggish and
Tired.
Until finally
The caterpillar wrapped himself up in a whitened
Casket, and hang motionless in a leafy
Grave.

The worm family mourned the loss of their beloved caterpillar brother,
And once again warned the other children about the dangers
Of being too hungry.

A few days later,
One of the wormy sisters went to visit her brother's grave.
But when she arrived she saw the most miraculous thing!
A butterfly was emerging from her brother's tomb.

The caterpillar-butterfly
Was not angry at the worms for trying to stop him from becoming a butterfly,
They didn't know he would be able to
Be a butterfly after all,
And they were just trying to keep the caterpillar from harm.

After the family had a beautiful reunion,
The butterfly flew away to somewhere
He could be hungry, and beautiful. And
Somewhere he could fly.

"What's this life?" the caterpillar asked the grape.

"I'm not so sure," the grape responded. "Maybe it's what we become later on."

"How so?" the caterpillar inquired.

"Well, think about it, we're both waiting for something, you're waiting to become a butterfly, and I'm waiting to be pressed into a fine Bordeaux. We're both growing, and preparing ourselves for what lies ahead."

"Interesting," said the caterpillar. "But I know I'll become a butterfly. And in my comfortable larder I don't have to worry about being preyed on. I can just eat this spinach and prepare. How do you know they won't turn you into a raisin?"

"Well," said the grape, "they told us from early on that we can become anything we want to if we just put our mind to it."

The caterpillar considered this for a moment. He knew that the grape hadn't realized that in this larder the most likely place he was destined to end up was in a fruit salad.

"I think that things will work out fine for you." said the caterpillar. "I believe in you."

"Thanks." said the grape. "I know that once you're a butterfly you'll go and see more of this world than this larder. We both have so much ahead of us."

The caterpillar held these words in his mind, the grape reminded him of back when he was a little larva, and he believed that if he really worked for it, he could become a wood pigeon. Now a little more mature, the caterpillar understood that the world has already made plans for caterpillars and for grapes, and for every living thing in between.

"Do you believe in destiny?" asked the grape.

"No." said the caterpillar.

"You believe that you have the power to shape your own path?" said the grape.

"No." said the caterpillar. "I know that there are limits to what I can do in this life, I know that if I try to fly now, I'll fall, but if I eat enough of this spinach, I'll be able to grow wings and fly, but even then, I'll never be able to swim, I'll never be able to build a house."

"What's a house?" asked the grape.

"I believe that I will make decisions, and from these decisions, consequences will emerge, and from these consequences, reactions will emerge, and from all of this, my life will take shape, but it will be a caterpillar's life, not a hedgehog's, and not an orange's."

"I think you're a pessimist," said the grape. "If I was to think like that then I'd give up hope. I know I'm a grape, I know that I can become a wine, or a raisin, or I can rot in this larder, but I still believe that if I try hard enough, I can become an apple."

At this the caterpillar scoffed. "You'll end up in a fruit salad, you're not going anywhere, trust me. You grapes all think you're going to be something when you come here, but I watched your packet get picked away, just like I saw the last packet get picked away, you're not destined to be anything."

The grape was hurt. The caterpillar's words he thought were mean and sharp. Words, the grape thought, were weapons when used in such a way, and they left scars on the grapes you used them against. The grape looked up at the caterpillar, he was looking away now, with a hard expression on his face.
The grape rolled over on his side, he thought that all his dreams did seem pointless, he knew that when he was picked, he wasn't sent to be pressed into fine wine. He knew that when he was packaged and put in the fridge that he wasn't going to become a raisin either. He never wanted to be a raisin, but now he felt jealous of them.
He lay there for what seemed like a long time, still. He could hear birds chirping in the distance. The larder door opened and a large hand got hold of him, suddenly everything was dark, he felt a blunt hit in his side. He thought he could see, but he wasn't sure what was happening, he felt hot, and cold at the same time, he looked down and saw that he had been bitten in half, it went dark again...

The butterfly sat upright on the branch, the little grapes were listening with their beaming little eyes and ears. He told them that if they tried hard enough, then they could be taken to be pressed into fine wine. They liked the sound of that.

CATERPILLAR recognize me

BUTTERFLY (turning away glances over shoulder) excuse me

CATERPILLAR i’m you before you transformed

BUTTERFLY get away you ****** worm

CATERPILLAR you can’t be serious look at me i’m you

BUTTERFLY look at you? euwwwh you’re a sticky slug with too many legs (pause) i’m exquisite fluttering colorful poetry a celebrity with huge fan base wherever i fly people recognize admire me

CATERPILLAR (creases brow) what happened to you did you forget your past where you come from

BUTTERFLY my past is fiction i’ve always been this lovely luminary (turns profile to audience in exaggerated manner) can’t you see i’m busy go away please leave

CATERPILLAR (bluntly) you’re consumed in vanity drunk on yourself spectacle without substance you make me question my own growing will i become like you

BUTTERFLY stop talking i’m calling 911

CATERPILLAR (sharply) you’re a sickening disappointment another Paris Hilton spin-off i hope to die in the cocoon and be spared the sham of you

BUTTERFLY (speaking into cell phone) yes operator i’m being accosted violated attack in progress please dispatch police immediately

CATERPILLAR you’re pitiful over-reactionary spineless decadent

BUTTERFLY i have nothing more to say law enforcement will be here soon

CATERPILLAR quit fretting i’m out of here i need to find and warn other caterpillars this meeting is a bleak awakening

BUTTERFLY think what you like greasy maggot i’m late for a performance and need to skirt paparazzi

caterpillar trudges off stage left as butterfly ascends over audience