Ella and the talking tree stump
by Adreng Ski
Once there was a rabbit named Ella who claimed to love everything except butterflies. She does everything that a normal rabbit does except chasing butterflies. Whenever a butterfly appears, she always turns around and hops endlessly away from it. She always tells her friends that she only does that because she thought butterflies are annoying, tiresome, ugly and she hates them. But the truth is, she secretly fears and envies them but she never tells these to anyone in fear of being laughed at.
One day, she was hopping cheerfully under the sun when she unexpectedly landed on a group of pretty purple flowers. She didn’t now that this patch of land was a favorite for the butterflies so when her feet landed on it, the butterflies fluttered by her. She let out a small rabbity squeak and hopped furiously away from the place and never looked back. When she finally thought there was nothing chasing her, she sat beside a rotted tree stump and tried to catch her breath.
“Such wild creatures! Disgusting and vile… ruining every perfect moment of my day! I hate them, butterflies!”, exclaimed Ella.
The stump heard this complaints and politely replied to Ella in a raspy old voice, “And why is that, my dear?” Ella was startled by the voice but instead of hopping away, she hopped around the stump and checked it.
“Well, are you going to hop around me forever or are you going to answer me?” asked the stump.
“Oh, I’m sorry Mr. Tree stump, Sir,” replied Ella. “You see, I was hopping around cheerfully a while ago when a band of nasty butterflies suddenly appeared and started chasing me. I just got away luckily but they sure ruined my day now. I’ve always hated them because they’re ugly and annoying.”
“Is that so?”, asked the stump. “Do you really find them ugly and annoying or are you afraid of them? You see, you don’t hop away from something annoying but you do from something you fear.”
“I most certainly am not afraid of them, Sir. They’re ugly, that’s why I hopped away! They’re simply annoying and ugly and disgusting. I’m not afraid of them!”
“Simply annoying and ugly, eh? But simply something is never enough to hold such negative feelings towards something, my dear.” said the stump.
“But this isn’t a matter of intensity of the reason, Sir. I hate them and that’s always enough.”
“No, they’re not. You are afraid of them that’s why you hopped away. And you’re just telling me—and I must assume that’s what you tell everyone else too—that you’re not just to cover up your fear. But don’t worry. That’s normal. We usually hate what we fear.”
“I am not afraid o—”, But Ella knew there was no point in lying anymore.
“Tell me about it.” said the tree stump in a very excited voice.
“Yes, Sir, you are right. I am afraid of them and I also envy them. I have always feared worms, you see. I think they’re crawly and creepy and when I see a worm, I can always feel them under my fur!”, Ella said.
The stump chuckled at this and said,“But my dear! Butterflies aren’t worms!”
“Yes, I know they’re not. But they once were! And every time I see a butterfly, all I see is a worm with two pairs of big wings!”
“But why do you envy them?”
“Because they can change. I hate how such low creatures can change their appearance and be something so beautiful. I don’t think they deserve it.”
“Hmmm. I must say that’s a little unreasonable. You must understand that some things change and it’s not like they can do anything about it. And when change comes by, It’s always either for the good of for bad. But in a worms case, it’s for the good. I agree that they’re ugly and disgusting once and they destroyed a lot of precious leaves here and there but you must understand, it’s what they are. They have to live with it. But these oddities you see in them is what hardens them, makes them stronger, turns them into cocoons and after they’ve finally got out of these cocoons, emerge as beautiful butterflies. They try to pay whatever they took by making flowers and things. Some things do change in a way that others usually do not like but it’s what they should be, my dear. It’s always good to look back at some one’s past but to judge them based on it is a big mistake.”
“But they’ll always be wor—”, Ella started but the stump interrupted, “Butterflies are butterflies. And that’s all there is to it. You can’t judge someone based on their past forever. You envy them because they can change and you think that you can’t. But physical appearance only matters to the eyes! You can also change through your heart and be a rabbit with two pairs of big butterfly wings inside you.”
Ella started laughing at this. She thought a rabbit with butterfly wings would really look ridiculous. “You certainly are a very clever stump, Sir.” said her, “I think you’re right. But I still think they’re creepy. It still might take me a lot of time before I start liking butterflies.”
“Oh you don’t have to hurry, dear. Time is running fast enough for everyone to catch up with it. One second at a time. If it can change seasons, then changing you would be as simple as standing still. Given enough will and determination, you’ll eventually learn how to love something that’s bound to be loved anyway. After all, butterflies are such sweet creatures with all those nectar all over them.” Said the stump.
Ella and the tree stump talked and talked until she finally realized it was time to go home. She never knew if the stump could indeed wave a goodbye but it did shouted “I’m waving goodbye!”. She waved her knobby paws back to the stump and started hopping towards the orange horizon with her fear of butterflies a little lesser than it was this morning. What she never knew though was that, inside this rotten tree stump was a small bundle of sticky stuff on it’s side. Inside this bundle was a small caterpillar who after talking to Ella all day, planned all night how it would play with her once it’s finally out of it’s cocoon.