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Jody often
sat for hours at the kitchen table with her crayons. Her
hair the color of new fallen snow, fell in loose wisps
around her face and over her shoulders. Her eyes the
color of ebony seemed to catch the lights around her,
reflecting them back out into the world with her
captivating smile. Jody was used to being stared at and
whispered about, but she didn't care what others thought
of her. She knew she was special, having an ability to do
things no others could do.
Jody's mother often watched her daughter from a distance,
and felt that her daughter was a rare gift. The town's
reaction to Jody always made her nervous, causing her to
feel as if everyone was watching her. It was the belief
of the towns people that Jody just did not fit in with
their own kids. They had never seen anyone with hair that
white and no one has eyes that black. Jody's mother also
worried about her daughter's imagination. She felt that
Jody actually believed the stories she invented, and this
could only lead to trouble.
Jody didn't play with any of the children in the
neighborhood. The other children would call her a freak,
and throw rocks at her. Jody had grown accustomed to
people believing she was different than them, but she was
not fond of being hit with rocks. She found other methods
to hide from the other kids. Lately, Jody had begun to
practice with her special talents, and was learning ways
to make the children stay away from her
Jody's mother was busy in the kitchen rolling out cookie
dough. She reached up to push a strand of stray hair away
from her face and left a trail of flour along her cheek.
Jody could hear her mother humming a song to herself,
over and over. It was the same song that her mother and
father would dance to. Jody's father wrote the song, but
never named it. Her mother's eyes seemed different when
she hummed her father's song.
Jody was sitting at the kitchen table; her legs dangling
from the chair, swinging back and forth. A large bowl of
grapes had been placed on the center of the table. Jody
would carefully choose a grape, and then pop it quickly
into her mouth. She picked up the black crayon and held
it tightly in her hand. She bit down on her bottom lip as
she concentrated on her work. She began to draw a large
white caterpillar with huge, eerie black eyes.
According to the stories told by the towns people Jody's
father died several years ago. She often heard the other
kids whispering about her father's death, but her mother
insisted that he was still alive and would be home any
day.
Jody's mother glanced up to look over at her daughter and
noticed she was completely immersed in her creation.
"How was school today, Jody?"
Jody eyes opened wide as she spoke, "That girl,
Karen, started calling me names, but I got back at her. I
turned into a caterpillar, a fuzzy white caterpillar. I
crawled up her leg until she began to scream."
"Jody! You can't make up stories like that!"
Jody’s mother began wiping her hands on her apron.
Jody heard the change in her mother's voice. She watched
her mother's face and noticed how her eyes began to
narrow. Jody knew that no matter what she said her mother
was not going to believe her. “Well I did turn into
a caterpillar today and it tickled my skin.” Jody
replied .
“That’s enough Jody, I don’t wish to
hear anymore stories of you turning into bugs!” her
mother replied as she picked up a cookie cutter and
forced it down hard into the dough.
"It's not a story mom; I can turn into a caterpillar
when I want to." Jody watched her mother taking out
her frustration on the cookie dough. Jody looked up at
her mother, her eyes seemed to fill her whole face.
"When the other kids are mean to me I turn into a
caterpillar, and I hide in the bushes until they are
gone."
"Jody! People don’t turn into bugs. It's okay
if you want to make believe sometimes, but you can't keep
telling people that you really turn into a bug."
"But, I do turn into a caterpillar," Jody said
taking a deep breath as she looked away from her mother.
She picked up the black crayon and slowly began to
outline the white fur of the caterpillar, as she listened
to her mother pounding on the cookie dough.
The next day Jody was again sitting at the table with her
crayons, drawing pictures of a boy running from a white
caterpillar. The trace of a satisfied smile could be seen
on her delicate face.
Jody's mother stepped into the room with a basket full of
freshly washed clothing. She folded the clothes, and
placed them in neat stacks on the other side of the
table. She noticed the smile on her daughter's face. Jody
smiling was a rare occurrence; so she sat over the
laundry for a moment watching her daughter. Jody seemed
very pleased with herself today so she asked Jody,
"How was school today?"
An impish smile crept over Jody’s face, as she
carefully laid her crayon down beside the paper. Placing
both of her hands on the seat of her chair, one on each
side of her, she began to swing her legs back and forth.
Peering up at her mother caused the light reflecting in
her dark black eyes to light up her whole face. "I
got that Tommy McDonald today! He threw his peas at me.
He wouldn't stop, so I turned into a caterpillar. I
crawled onto his plate." Jody started to giggle,
"He looked right into my eyes and jumped up and ran
away."
"Jody! I don't want to hear about the caterpillar
again? Do you hear me?" Jody could see her
mother’s body shaking all over.
"You have to stop this nonsense, Jody. You
can’t keep telling these stories." She brought
her hand down on the table with a loud thud.
"But Mom, I really do turn into a caterpillar."
Jody lowered her head and looked down at her lap. The
smile that had slightly shimmered on her face was now
gone.
"Jody, please! You have to stop this! You cannot
turn into a caterpillar." Jody's mother stood up and
began walking out of the room. She reached the doorway
and slowly turned to look at her daughter; she noticed
her daughters dark eyes looking up into hers. Jody's
enormous, black eyes filled her whole face and seemed to
be pleading for her to believe. "Jody, Please stop
this!" her mother pleaded, "You cannot turn
into a caterpillar." Jody's mother turned and walked
out of the room.
Jody placed her elbows on the table and rested her chin
in the palms of her hands. A strand of hair fell down
over her eyes. She blew the hair away. Her legs were
swinging back and forth. She crossed her arms and laid
them down on the table; resting her chin on top of her
arms. Jody thought to herself. "How can I make Mom
believe me?"
Jody closed her eyes tightly and thought very hard. She
felt the soft, fuzzy hair growing all over her body. It
always tickled causing her to to wiggle around. She
opened her eyes; the room had gotten much larger. She
stretched her body out, as she began to scoot and inch
across the floor. The floor felt a little cold on her
stomach. She could hear a pounding on the floor; she knew
it was her mother's footsteps.
"Jody? What would you like for dinner? I thought I
would let you decide tonight?" Jody's mother looked
around the kitchen. "Jody?"
Jody's mother screamed jumping back at the sight of a big
bug crawling on the floor towards her.. Jody felt her
mother's scream vibrate through her body; the sound
seemed to echo all around the room. Jody thought,
"Mom will believe me now." Jody continued to
crawl toward her mother.
Jody's mother watched the bug crawling on the floor. Jody
looked up at her mother as she inched toward her. Jody
noticed how big her mother looked from down here. Jody
was certain her mother would believe her now, "Mom
will know. She will know that I really can turn into a
caterpillar."
Looking down at the bug, Jody's mother bent over a
little. "Bugs do not belong in houses; you should
have stayed outside where you belonged." Jody's
mother said as she caught her breath.
Jody looked up and saw the bottom of her mother's shoe.
It was coming down quickly over the top of her. Jody's
heart began pounding hard inside her chest as if it were
trying to escape from inside her, but there was no
escape. Jody could not crawl away fast enough. She felt
the bottom of her mother's shoe as it brushed against the
top of her fuzzy white fur. It was so dark all around her
as she felt the pressure of her mother's shoe pressing
down on her. Jody thought, "Mom will have to believe
I turned into a caterpillar now," The darkness took
Jody’s thoughts from her and Jody thought no more.
Jody's mother lifted her foot, then looked down at the
bug. She noticed the fuzzy white fur. “ A white
caterpillar, how odd," she thought to herself.
"I have never seen a white caterpillar." She
cleaned up the dead bug and quickly flushed it down the
toilet.
Jody's mother slowly walked back to the kitchen to look
for her daughter. “Jody?” She noticed Jody's
crayons on the table and the picture of the white
caterpillar. The huge black eyes seemed to stare back at
her. Jody's mother looked all over the house searching
all of her daughter's favorite hiding places, but Jody
was not to be found. Jody’s mother walked back to
the kitchen, she looked down at Jody’s drawing. Her
finger reached out tracing the outline of the
caterpillar’s body. She carefully picked the drawing
up, her own eyes staring into the huge, pleading black
eyes looking back at her. Her body suddenly became
motionless.
Jody's mother only remembers that Jody was an unusual
child. |
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