The Astonishing Rise and Fall of Inchy

One day, in an attempt to bring a vegetable into her family’s life, a woman laid claim to a small parcel of perfectly green broccoli. This was no ordinary broccoli. It was carefully preserved from the ills of the environment by a fitted plastic sheath. As well, it was imported from the far off land of Mexico.

The woman clutched it to her bosom and ran home without stopping even once to pass the time with a single soul. Once safely home, she scrubbed the broccoli with all her might and shook the extra water out over the sink. As she began to chop, her husband exclaimed, in a rather spirited manner, “Look, Wife! There in the sink- it’s a worm of some sort- an inchworm. What shall we do with it?” And he gently plucked it up between two fingers and held it in the air.

“Throw it outside!” the wife shrieked, as she lunged at her husband. “It’s nothing but a predator!”

As the husband righted himself, wiping a bit of blood from his quivering lip, a grave expression overcame his visage, “It would freeze immediately. We’ll let the waif decide. Surely her lack of good sense leaves room for some sort of intuition in such matters. What say you, child?” And they both turned eagerly toward their daughter, awaiting her response.

“Onion!” she replied happily.

“That settles it,” the husband decided, “we’ll keep it as a pet. And we’ll name it Inchy.” And he gingerly placed the worm into a glass, complete with some broccoli and spinach bits. He covered the glass with plastic wrap, secured it with a rubberband, and poked a few tiny holes into it. The glass was placed upon a shelf, and promptly forgotten about.

Two days later, as the wife was tirelessly scrubbing dishes, she glanced up to see that Inchy had woven a fine white web around himself at the top of the glass. “Curses!” she spat, “It’s not an inchworm after all! It’s nothing but a caterpillar, and now we must endure the transformation.”

The husband and child applauded their good fortune, for surely such an industrious creature would bring good luck upon the family. Day after day they watched and waited, but nothing transpired. Hope turned to despondency. Desperation gave way to delirium, until one day, something quietly unfurled its’ wings and emerged from the confines of the white webbing.

The family was still with anticipation, not daring to utter even the tiniest peep. And then it was over. The most glorious of creatures emerged from the cocoon. The family knew it had been blessed beyond reason. And they wept in gratitude.