Hope for the Flowers

I.                   Stripe is Born

II.                Stripe looks for something more

III.             Stripe finds the caterpillar pillar

IV.             Stripe climbs

V.                Stripe meets Yellow

VI.             Stripe hurts Yellow and decides its not worth it

VII.          Yellow and Stripe leave the caterpillar pillar

VIII.       Yellow and Stripe make a home together and love each other

IX.             Stripe longs for more

X.                Stripe visits the pillar and from a dying Caterpillar hears…”the top…they’ll see…butterflies alone”

XI.             Stripe returns to the caterpillar pillar without Yellow

XII.          Yellow is sad

XIII.       Yellow meets up with the grey caterpillar who is making a cocoon

XIV.       Yellow learns about butterflies

XV.          The grey caterpillar tells her that she will have to give up her life now to be a butterfly

XVI.       Yellow’s not sure but takes the risk because she believes in the hope held by that caterpillar

XVII.    Meanwhile, back at the pillar, Stripe is making great strides

XVIII. He’s a ruthless and focused climber

XIX.       Stripe makes it close to the top and realizes that there is nothing at the top and the only thing that happens is that the top layer gets thrown off of the top to die

XX.          Stripe is frustrated

XXI.       Just as his group is just about to make their play to push that top layer of caterpillars off, there is a beautiful yellow creature that flies to the top of the pillar

XXII.    This creature tries to grab Stripe but he resists

XXIII. The creature looks at him with such sad eyes

XXIV. And all of a sudden he’s reminded by those words that he heard that day he visited the pillar…is this a butterfly? He wondered

XXV.    He looked at those eyes again and wondered if it could possibly be Yellow

XXVI. When he thought of Yellow he felt ashamed.  Yellow was right to have waited.

XXVII.          Stripe wasn’t feeling for good about himself for the way that he had treated the other caterpillars.  He felt quite unworthy of the love in that butterfly’s eyes.

XXVIII.       And so with determination, he crawled down the pillar but this time he didn’t curl into a ball

XXIX. He looked everyone in the eyes as he went down

XXX.    Stripe marvelled at all of the beauty he beheld and he was amazed that there were so many varieties of caterpillars

XXXI. And everyone he met, he told that there was nothing at the top

XXXII.          Most didn’t hear him as they were too busy climbing

XXXIII.       Some did and just thought that it was sour grapes

XXXIV.       Others heard him and gasped in disbelief.  They told him to not say that because they didn’t know what else that they could do.

XXXV.          Stripe heard himself say, that yes there was.  They were all meant to fly.  They were all meant to be butterflies.

XXXVI.       As Stripe was saying it, he realized how they had all misinterpreted the feeling to get to the top and he was filled with joy at the possibilities.

XXXVII.    But the backlash from the pile was worse than before

XXXVIII. Those climbing couldn’t believe that they were meant to be butterflies.  They were just fuzzy worms that were destined to crawl and to climb

XXXIX.       And Stripe began to doubt himself

XL.           But he kept on climbing down that pillar as difficult and as scary as it was.

XLI.        Stripe had begun to doubt that vision of the butterfly that he had seen.

XLII.     But he kept climbing and one day he made it out of the pile

XLIII.  He returned to the place that he had Yellow had made their own and promptly fell asleep he was so exhausted

XLIV.  When he awoke, that beautiful yellow butterfly was there again. 

XLV.     Yellow looked at him with so much love and beckoned him to follow

XLVI.  Stripe soon figured it out and trusted enough to follow

XLVII.           Yellow took Stripe to that place where her cocoon hung

XLVIII.        She showed him the cocoon and inserted herself in it over and over again.

XLIX.  It dawned on Stripe what he was to do.

L.                 He made this one last climb and with much fear and trepidation he began to spin that final cocoon

LI.              It got darker and darker.

LII.           Stripe was afraid

LIII.        He had to let go of everything that he had known in order to do this on the basis of hope.

LIV.        And Yellow waited.

LV.           Until one day, emerged this beautiful black and white striped butterfly

LVI.        The End

LVII.     Or The beginning

LVIII.  “Very truly, I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.  Those who love their life lose it, and those who hate their life in this world will keep it for eternal life.”