Caterpillar's New Shoes

It was a warm August morning on the first day of school in Bugtown. All of the little bugs were walking to school in their new shoes. Their lively chatter filled the neighborhood. They were all excited about the first day of school; except for Caterpillar.

Caterpillar was trailing behind the group of bugs. He was starring down at the ground as he walked hoping no one would notice him, but Ladybug did.

“Caterpillar, what’s wrong?” she asked.

“I’m feeling a little sad today,” he told her. “Everyone has on new school shoes, but I don’t have any.” He wiggled his bare feet.

“Why don’t you have shoes?” Ladybug asked. Shoes were the new trend in Bugtown.

“I have 14 feet that need shoes and I don’t know how to get that many.”

By now Caterpillar and Ladybug had reached the school.

“Let’s ask Spider. He has four feet,” Ladybug suggested.

They found Spider already seated at his desk. He was wearing four new white sneakers.

“Good morning Spider,” they greeted him.

“Hello Caterpillar. Hello Ladybug,” Spider replied.

“Spider, we were wondering how you managed to get four of the same shoes,” Ladybug asked.

“That’s easy!” Spider replied. He loved math. “I bought two pairs of the same shoes.”

“That is easy,” said Caterpillar. “Maybe I can get new shoes after school.” He quickly did the math. “I’ll need to buy seven pair.”

“I’ll come with you,” offered Ladybug. She loved to shop.

“Me too!” added Butterfly.

“That would be great!” said Caterpillar. He was no longer sad and went to find his desk.

The school day went by quickly and soon enough Caterpillar, Ladybug and Butterfly were at the only shoe store in Bugtown. Caterpillar located a style of shoe he liked and took it to the Salesbug.

“I would like to buy seven pairs of this shoe,” Caterpillar told him.

The Salesbug looked at him with sad eyes. “I’m afraid I don’t have seven pairs of that shoe or any shoe for that matter, but I could get you two pairs of any shoe you like.”

Caterpillar hung his head. He was feeling sad again, because he really wanted shoes.

“I have an idea!” Butterfly exclaimed. “Why don’t you buy one pair of each color?”

“That would be silly,” Caterpillar responded. “The other bugs would make fun of me.”

“No they wouldn’t. You would be like a rainbow, and everyone like’s rainbows!”

Caterpillar thought about it. He didn’t really like the idea, but at least he would have shoes. He picked out seven different colors and paid for them.

The next day Caterpillar waited until the last minute to leave for school. He was embarrassed about his multi-colored shoes and didn’t want anyone to see him as he walked to school.

Caterpillar stepped into the classroom just as the school bell rang signaling the beginning of class. He stared down at the worn floor afraid to meet his classmate’s eyes. He waited for the teasing to begin, but everyone was silent.

Slowly, Caterpillar raised his head. To his surprise everyone was wearing two different colored shoes!

“How did you know?” Caterpillar asked in amazement.

“Butterfly and Ladybug told us,” Spider said, adding, “We didn’t want you to feel left out.”

Caterpillar smiled. “I couldn’t ask for a better group of friends.”