In a sunny garden, there lived a caterpillar named Carl. Carl was a happy little chap, always wiggling and giggling as he munched on leaves and soaked up the warm sunshine. His best friends were a tiny ant called Annie and a lovely ladybug named Lila. Every day, they would play together, enjoying the beautiful flowers and the soft, grassy patches.
One beautiful spring day, as a gentle breeze rustled the leaves, Carl sighed happily, “Oh, how I love it here! It’s sunny and warm, and all my friends are around me! I wonder if I will ever change.”
His friends looked at him with curiosity and asked, “Change? Why would you want to change, Carl?”
Carl replied, “I have heard tales of how some caterpillars become butterflies, and they soar across the sky with the birds. It must be wonderful to see the world from up high!”
Annie shook her tiny head, “But why would you want to leave us behind? You are perfect just the way you are.”
“Yes,” said Lila, shaking her little head. “You shouldn’t want to change; you might lose all the things you love.”
But Carl was determined. “I know I will always be your friend, even if I become a butterfly,” he said with confidence. “I want to see the world from above!”
Days turned into weeks, and one evening Carl felt very strange. He said to Annie and Lila, “I am afraid it is happening now. I am going to become a butterfly and leave you forever.”
Lila said comfortingly, “We will always be friends, Carl, no matter what you become.”
The next day, Carl found a nice soft leaf and began to spin a silky blanket around himself. “Goodbye for a while, my friends,” he called out. “I will come back as a butterfly!”
The days turned into weeks, but his friends did not forget Carl. “Do you think he is really changing into a butterfly?” asked Annie one day.
“I don’t know,” Lila replied. “But I hope he comes back to visit us soon.”
Finally, one lovely morning, a bright light shone down on the garden, making everything golden and warm. The leaves rustled gently in the breeze, and then a strange noise came from the little house Carl had made.
Annie and Lila came closer to look. “Hello? Carl? Are you there?” Lila called. But there was no answer. The noise grew louder and louder, and they saw the blanket move. Then there was a small tear in the blanket, and soon a little head and small legs popped out to look around.
Carl was entirely different! No longer wiggly and green, he had beautiful wings of velvet—which were all crumpled up but a lovely blue and gold. He stepped daintily from the blanket and looked around. “Oh, my friends!” he cried. “I am a butterfly!” He flapped his wings joyfully, making a rainbow of sparkles dance in the sunlight.
“How lovely you are!” said Lila admiringly. “I could never have believed you would be so beautiful.”
“And you can fly too, now!” said Annie excitedly.
Carl spread out his wings and took a little hop over to his friends. “Yes, I can explore the whole world now!” But then he frowned. “Oh dear, I am so much larger than before that I can no longer crawl. How shall I ever reach the lovely flowers?”
Lila smiled. “You must learn to fly! When you spread your wings and flap them, you will rise high in the air just like the birds.”
So Carl spread his wings again, blinked up at the bright light, and then flapped them gently. Off he sailed up to the treetop! A sweet bird warbled a greeting and fluttered around him, and the soft breeze kissed his glowing wings.
“How lovely it all is!” he cried. “And to think I almost refused to change myself into a butterfly because I feared leaving you, my friends! How thankful I am that I learned to embrace the change!”
And off he flew to visit the flowers, while his old friends sat watching with happy hearts.