The Apple Caterpillar

Once upon a time there was an apple that was the birthplace of a nice little caterpillar. She lived there quite comfortably and leisurely munched her way through the inside of the apple.

The apple did not like this at all. He decided that he really ought to ripen as quickly as possible. And as soon as he was red and round enough, he simply let himself fall from the tree.

And there he lay in the grass, exposed to all manner of hungry creatures. The next snail that came along had a hearty little snack and ate quite a sizeable hole into the apple. Then the ants got to work on the slowly rotting edge of the bite mark.

Oh dear!

So the hole in the apple grew bigger and bigger, and our little apple-moth caterpillar no longer felt quite so comfortable. Cold air came into her home and she began to feel chilly. And besides – hey! – somebody was pecking at the apple, making it roll this way and that until the poor caterpillar hardly knew which way was up.

Annoyed and curious, she crawled farther and farther towards the daylight. And when she reached the edge, the next shock was waiting for her:

A blackbird was sitting there, eyeing her greedily!

“What now?” the poor little creature wondered, and ducked back into the apple. She curled herself up and trembled with fear.

The blackbird grew a little impatient and pecked again. The apple shook violently, and the caterpillar became quite dizzy.

“I have to get out of here!” she thought in panic. “But that greedy bird is sitting outside. How am I ever going to escape?”

Ah, surely even a poor little caterpillar was allowed a bit of luck now and then!

The blackbird pecked and pecked, and suddenly the apple actually landed on the hole. The little caterpillar fell out onto the ground.

She lay there, slightly dazed, but only for a moment. Then she scrambled to her feet and crawled as quickly as she could underneath the fallen leaves in the grass.

There she sat and caught her breath.

The blackbird, meanwhile, had no idea what she had missed.

But now the caterpillar had a problem: where was the next – and, naturally, nourishing! – hiding place?

And all those strange creatures around her made our little caterpillar rather nervous. It wasn't just the blackbird. There were large beetles crawling through the grass, some with horns and some without. A mouse was sniffing around, and all those busy little ants scurrying everywhere made her even more uneasy.

She hurried through the fallen leaves beneath the apple tree, jumping at every movement.

But where should she go?

Her life-saving apple had turned into a trap, and where was she supposed to find another one? Especially one that had already been bitten into, because she could not bite through an apple's hard skin herself.

The little caterpillar raised herself halfway and sniffed the air.

Did that smell like apple?

Oh no, not that rotten one over there. It was no use to her. She needed a healthy apple, one that had been nibbled just a little. Well then – keep looking.

Stop!

Some kind of monster came snorting towards her. Caterpillar, hide! Our little caterpillar disappeared beneath some slightly rotten, very smelly apple leaves – just in time! A hedgehog came tramping past with loud snuffles ...

Phew!

It had gone by. The caterpillar took a deep breath and set off again.

Hmm, that smell ...

That smell ...

Definitely apple!

Hopeful now, the little caterpillar crawled a little faster. She was hungry, she was cold, she was frightened – and yet there was hope.

And sure enough: right in the middle of the leaves lay a red-and-yellow apple. It was no longer quite fresh, but it seemed to be healthy.

Our little caterpillar crawled all around the apple, then struggled her way up onto it ... Intact. That couldn't be! The apple had fallen from the tree, hadn't it?

Give up?

NO!

So our little caterpillar crawled down again and pushed herself underneath the apple. It was difficult, but it worked, because the leaves were soft and yielding. YES! There was the damaged spot!

A tiny crack had opened, and our little adventurer breathed a sigh of relief. She began to nibble and slurp up the juice that oozed out. Mmm, that was good! With ever-increasing enthusiasm she nibbled and nibbled, and soon she had made a nice little opening.

At last! She was on her way into a new home! Then, quite unexpectedly, the apple flesh gave way and a little opening appeared.

??????

She stuck her head through – and came face to face with a very similar little head. Both heads jerked back.

Oh.

Someone already lived here ... Our little friend lowered her head. All that effort for nothing!

The inhabitant retreated, and our little caterpillar was just about to do the same.

But then the resident's head came closer again and pushed a tiny piece of apple towards the intruder.

An invitation? It was almost too good to be true!

Our little refugee hesitated and looked into the friendly eyes of the homeowner. Then she accepted the offer – cautiously, keeping eye contact all the while.

When she had eaten the little piece, the resident caterpillar turned around and crawled deeper into the apple. Carefully, our caterpillar followed her.

The local caterpillar began nibbling again, but she had made room beside herself, and slowly the visitor squeezed in next to her.

And now ...

they are still nibbling away together, unless by now they have already turned into butterflies!