Expectation of Happiness (My Original Short Story)

It was early and sunny morning. Nature woke up after the hot summer night. Without haste inhabitants of the forest started doing their everyday affairs. Little Rie opened her eyes, stretched lazily, nestled on a clover petal and, as usually, began waiting.

Rie was a caterpillar. Her parents died when she was very young. From the very childhood Rie lived only with her dream: she desired to transform into a beautiful butterfly. Rie was sure that as soon as it would happen, she’d be the happiest in the world. Every day she chose a magnificent leaf, petal or blade and climbing it began waiting. This continued from morning till night, day in and day out. Rie didn’t do anything else, she just lived expecting the happiness.

Rie had never saw how other caterpillar transformed to butterflies and she envied them a lot, not understanding why she had to wait for so long. Months passed but she was still waiting… Over and over forest inhabitants tried to talk to her and get to know her but she didn’t pay any attention to them. She thought they kept her from the most important activity – from waiting when she’d finally become a butterfly and all would admire her.

But time went by. Rie grew old because caterpillars’ life is not so long, as is widely known, and she simply didn’t transform to a butterfly. And once a snail crawled on a leaf when Rie sat. The snail had been living in this forest much longer than other inhabitants, and they all treated her with respect, considered her very wise and came her for advice. The caterpillar was surprised to see the guest but didn’t show this. She was still waiting gravely trying not to miss accidently the main essential moment of her life.

The wise snail started talking first: “Dear little Rie, aren’t you bored by sitting day after day and waiting for something unknown?”

“I know what I’m waiting for”, - Rie answered.
“Unlucky Rie… your parents died so early that even didn’t manage to tell you…” - the snail sighed.
“Tell me what?” - the caterpillar asked without any interest.

“That you are another kind of caterpillars, and you’ll never become a butterfly. You spent all your life on expecting something that could never happen. You don’t talk to other inhabitant of our wood, you have no friends, no family, no cozy home… Your life comes to an end, and you even don’t know what the real, creative and fulfilled life is. It’s so sad… And it’s so silly to live expecting the happiness as you can be happy just living your life”, - the snail said it with sorrow in her voice and crawled away.

Story and photo - original work by @unlonely-soul

Hope you enjoyed this short story :)