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The Toad, the Buterfly, and the Bee

I say this was written when I was "five", but in truth it could be any where before the 4th grade, as I have the worse memory in the world.  I tend to use a 40 days and 40 nights deal when I say something happened when I was "five".  Generally it means in the portion of my life where I remember next to nothing (as I do have the worse memory of anyone I know).

I always loved Aesop's Fables, things like that.  And morbid tales with animals like Watership Down - which I probably would have red by that point, or at the least had watched a thousand times (which is why I fear rabbits :x).  I was fascinated with frogs and toads, and everyone thought toads were ugly so that's probably why I made it about a toad.  I always thought they were cute.

Anyway it was a school assignment, and afterwards from what I am led to understand my teacher called my parents to see if I was getting picked on by the other kids.  I don't get it, I never will.  If someone figures out why this would be a cause for that, let me know.  I'm genuinely curious.

I started correcting grammar and vocabulary - but honestly my grammar/vocab was probably better then.  So excuse anything I missed (probably liberal uses of there/they're/their mistakes).


There sat Toad, near his home, when Butterfly and Bee tired of flying both sat on the same flower.

"This flower is beautiful," said Bee, "not much unlike your wings Butterfly. All the more beautiful when up high, where the suns light can reach them clearly."

"Thank you, but you are being too kind." Butterfly beamed.
"No, it's true" remarked Bee, who looked at her own stripes and said, "Wish I the colors of your wings; the colors of this flower."

But Butterfly shook her head. "No," she said, "You are much more beautiful than this flower. All the more beautiful because she depends on you. For with out you, who would spread her pollen?"

This made Toad jealous. He wanted to be beautiful, like the flower. Like Bee. And most like Butterfly. He dreamt of being complimented for his beauty, and in the morning he saw Butterfly come down to rest on that very same flower.
:"Hello," said Toad, "My, your wings are absolutely dazzling!"

Butterfly looked down at Toad, "Why thank you." she said, and nothing more.

Toad, feeling dirty for not having been complimented, looked around. In his sight he saw another flower, one Bee had not gotten to. A flower whose pollen had not been collected by Bee.

And so, he thought, perhaps if I too spread the pollen of a
beautiful flower I might then be beautiful.

Sticking out his long tongue, Toad went to collect the pollen - but stopped suddenly when Butterfly shrieked.
"Oh what an ugly thing!" Butterfly gasped when seeing Toad's tongue. "What in all creation do you think you are doing?!" she questioned disgustedly.

Toad, flabbergasted, merely looked at her in confusion. "I am," he tried to explain, "pollinating."

Butterfly laughed at Toad. "Pollinating? What so ever for? Bee pollinates the most beautiful flowers - and because she is so beautiful the flowers grow to beauty. Will you make our beautiful home ugly by growing ugly flowers with that ugly tongue? she mocked.

Toad, saddened, went home. He did not feel beautiful, and did not want to be company to Butterfly any longer.
He dreamed he was an ugly thing, and that he grew ugly flowers.

In the morning, however, he saw Bee flying high in the sky.
She flew down and landed on that same flower Toad had tried to pollinate the day before. Toad, at first, stayed where he was not wanting to be seen, but then a thought occurred to him.

"Hello Bee," he said, "Aren't you pretty today, with your stripes?"

Bee, charmed, gave a slight bow "Thank you Toad. Yes, yes I am pretty today with my stripes." But she never returned the compliment.

Toad, never the less proceeded with his plan.

"Butterfly sure is pretty, when she is flies high in the sky and the sun sets her wings all aglow, isn't she Bee?"
"But of course Toad." Bee mused, "She may be the most beautiful thing in the sky."

Toad thought, perhaps this was his chance.

"I can reach high, in the sky, like Butterfly too." he said. And with that he leaped, with his strong legs he sent himself threw the air as if he could naturally fly.
Butterfly said nothing, only wrinkled her nose and looked insulted.

"What's wrong?" asked Toad, "Did I not catch the sun right? Was I not beautiful too?"

Bee laughed, "You? Beautiful? Toad, you are an ugly thing to walk on the ground! Too look up at us, the most beautiful, who look down upon you from the sky!"

She continued laughing, and Toad grew angry. He lept home quickly, not wanting to be seen by Butterfly - if she came. He did not want to be taunted, let alone possibly by the both of them.

That night he dreamed of Butterfly and Bee. They were flying above him, beautiful in the sky, and Toad watched them. Admired them. But then they became nasty, and hurled insults at him from above. He couldn't run from them, wherever he went they followed flying, mocking him. Calling him ugly. Reminding him of their superior beauty.

The next morning, Toad reluctantly left his home to go outside into the world.

And it was there he saw Bee and Butterfly, yet again. When they saw him, they both whispered to each other and than laughed.

"Oh, it's you Toad." Butterfly said. "Are you going to pretend to be beautiful today?"
"No." Toad said flatly, "Instead I'm going to eat you instead."

And with that his long tongue lashed threw the air, and caught Butterfly and gobbled her up in front of Bee.
Bee screamed, and went to fly away - but Toad leaped and midair caught her too in his mouth.

Later, before after returning home Toad lay in his bed and dreamed.

He wasn't beautiful, in his dreams, or to no degree that he noticed. He wasn't ugly either - he was simply Toad. Butterfly and Bee were beautiful, but quickly became ugly as they taunted him. They called him ugly, but Toad did not feel ugly, for he saw how ugly they had become. Toad pitied them, for they were truly beautiful once, but had become so very ugly. He did them a favor, and allowed them to never get any uglier - and just as he did before, he ate Butterfly and Bee.

For whatever reason, yes I felt like sharing that.  If there was a Toadie message icon to match the Toadie smilie :)toadie:) that could've been cute.
 
omgomgomgomgomgomgomgomgomg

<3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3

... you're adorable.
 

mawk

Sponsor

That's unbelievably cute, dude. Especially the ending... morbid my ass, it's Sondheim-style altruism and free food! If most of that's intact from its original state, you were one literate little kid. : P

I think the comment your teacher made might have been because of the Toad's plight in general -- since a lot of elementary school teachers think they're psychiatrists and like making diagnoses based on instinct or what they've seen on TV (I had a few brushes with that when I was wee. They put me on some crazy shit, too, :<) your teacher likely assumed you created the Toad to project yourself into the story. Since the Toad had social problems (and took a rather vengeful path in remedying the problem,) it must have looked like you had some major self-esteem issues. From there, it wouldn't be a huge jump to assume the bugs were other kids.
 
Is this a direct copy of your story from that age? 'Cause the grammar/words are stuff I probably wouldn't know when I was that young.

Nice story also.
 
I concur with Ven. Very adorable. I'd go as far as to say that this would make a good children's book. Of course, with an ending like that, it might not get published. :x

And I can definitely see where your teacher was coming from with thinking that you, yourself were getting picked on. If I hadn't read this:
I was fascinated with frogs and toads, and everyone thought toads were ugly so that's probably why I made it about a toad.  I always thought they were cute.
Then I definitely would've come to the same conclusion.
 
Screw quotes, I'm tired and really should be asleep...

@Vennie,
<3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3
I'm going to eat you :eek:

@Miek,
I still don't see it.  I don't see what's wrong with Toad just deciding to find purpose in his life, and to make the world a better place by putting a little fear into things.  I mean really, bees are bitches anyway.
Okay I see it but still - is it any better than the story about the frog and the scorpion?

Scorpion wants to cross a lake, asks the frog to let him ride on his back. Frog denies afraid scorpion will sting him, scorpion points out the folly that they'd both then drown, and half way though scorpion stings frog anyway, effectively drowning them both.  But before he dies when asked why he stung, the scorpion says that it's in his nature.  A scorpion is always a scorpion.
That's a lot darker, especially when you equate racism and crap in there like some people have tried to do.  That was fine in class :(

@kaze950,
Yeah, believe it or not I was a really smart kid.  I used to read a dictionary, and I had my own little travel thesaurus and everything.  I used to WIN SPELLING BEES D:
And if you know me now, that would be enough to solicit maybe a fair chuckle considering I just today had my spelling errors be the butt of a few jokes.

I'm willing to bet that at some point down the road from then to now I might've rewritten it out of boredom anyway though now that I think about it.

@Luminier,
I wanted to write a follow up of sorts called Horus the Spider who goes on stupid adventures that just about kill him.  Like wanting to be a genius so he stood on his head for a few hours to the blood would circulate to his brain only, and when he stood up he got so dizzy he forgot his ingenious idea, etc.  And naturally have a bee or butterfly be his foils.  Kind of try to publish them as a package lol.

And I know I just said screw quotes but,
Luminier":2c07kdtt said:
And I can definitely see where your teacher was coming from with thinking that you, yourself were getting picked on. If I hadn't read this:
I was fascinated with frogs and toads, and everyone thought toads were ugly so that's probably why I made it about a toad.  I always thought they were cute.
Then I definitely would've come to the same conclusion.
Someone got it!
<3

And thanks for the comments the each of you :)
 

mawk

Sponsor

60.25":2mddeiu5 said:
Okay I see it but still - is it any better than the story about the frog and the scorpion?

I'm not sure what you mean, dude. : P

People might not try to psychoanalyze the dude who wrote The Frog and the Scorpion, but they're still seeing things in it (i.e. racism) that weren't necessarily there.

I don't quite understand what you're asking about what's wrong with it, either. Like I said, I like the story. Sorry if I gave the impression that I was psychoanalyzing you or anything like that. I was speaking purely in a hypothetical sense for what the teacher might have thought -- The Opinions Expressed in the Previous Post Do Not Necessarily Reflect Those of the Miek or His Colleagues.

And really, I doubt the teacher put as much thought into the Frog's motives as you did (and then leapt to conclusions about self-projection and your self-esteem,) which is both funny and a little sad. :(
 
I didn't mean to sound as if I was interpreting what you said in that manner.
Call it bad arrangement of words :(
Everything I said came out backwards I guess.

I meant people do over analyzing Aesop's fable (you can find a version of it HERE), but there's nothing wrong there.  But found it funny what you said, because it made sense, and attempted a goof.

I couldn't even say how much motive the frog has.  Honestly, I could've just been lazy and decided to come up with a reason why frog's ate insects people thought were cute lol.
 

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