Vachel is tall and wide. Standing tall and high from the ground, his body is a reddish rough bark with crevices and fissures all over and with thorns on his body, big, brown, long and straight. He is called Thorny by many. People hate to go near him and curse him all the time for being full of thorns and rough. Depressed of being ostracized by one and all, he grew tall silently. The taller he grew, the more farsighted he became and with more knowledge about his self, he became more calm and compassionate.
One day, he had a visitor. Dark, ugly, tiny and grizzly, it was Cairns, the caterpillar. Cairns was thrown off by a farmer onto the road. Dragging himself, he saw Vachel standing long and tall. Cairns thought Vachel could provide him shelter. Cairns was ugly and repelling. Its markings and body parts made it look poisonous. Its spiny thorny bristles irritate by lodging in the skin and so, Cairns too was hated by everyone. From children to the elderly, everyone hated him and threw him off into the wild so that it would get killed. Being strong in grit and confidence, Cairns had been escaping death every day.
Scaling high a fallen esteem is a herculean task but Cairns was used to such a task as he slowly climbed the tree. Vachel’s happiness was beyond bounds as for the first time, a humble life visited him. With his heart brimming with compassion, he caressed Cairns with his tiny thin leaves. Cairns felt soothed and sheltered in those leaves and started resting. Eating a few leaves and silently watching the world move was his daily routine. With shade and food provided by Vachel, Cairns grew stronger. As days went by, Cairns knew that the time has come for his transformation. Confident on his new hearty friend, Cairns closed himself up in the cocoon woven from the vermin of his salivating thoughts and confidence. Vachel used to visit his friend in penance every day, caress him with leaves and provided shade.
On one sunny day, Vachel saw a broken nest of leaves wide open as if someone tore open from inside. He felt happy as his friend has transformed and flew. Vachel was happy because he provided place and shade for someone who is undergoing transformation. He knew that transformation is the fruit of penance.
Suddenly the pain of an axe woke up Vachel from his deep thoughts. He too knew that his end was near. His trunk was being axed and cut into small pieces. To his amazement and happiness, a butterfly was kissing his forehead up high in the skies. Appalled by this flurry of colours so intricately designed on a light body, Vachel saw a saint who was now flying high and far on the wings of his penance. “I owe this beautiful life to you,” Cairns said to Vachel, “as it is only you who provided me shade and food and protected me from predators. I now represent freedom, beauty and peace. I am an indicator of healthy ecosystem and help the environment in pollination”. Vachel, who is now going to become a panacea to many life-threatening diseases, bid farewell to his friend. He is being transformed into many small tiny white pills to be used by the same people who hated him. There’s lot of beauty besides the thorns.
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