To grow was not instantaneous, to change took a collection of brief moments that extended through ones life. It was rare to have a single moment that defined when childhood was lost and adulthood began. A catalyst could indeed begin the change, but was linked to the reaction and the events the followed that truly made one mature. For Leafy, the captive caterpillar, there was something inside that small body of his that had started the change.
“No,” Anu began. A smile on her face. It was soft, comforting. Forever? Nothing slept forever. It either woke, or had no heartbeat and would then decay into the ground from where it came.
“A caterpillar must sleep for a little while, so that he can grow his wings and change into a butterfly.”The wolfess tried to explain to the pup. Of course the science of it was complicated and even she did not know all the things that made a ugly bug grow into a beautiful butterfly. “A caterpillar is a baby butterfly, and in order to become gown up, he has to make his cocoon and change inside it.” What was happening inside was a mystery even to the older wolf, but she knew what would come after.
“He will wake up, and be a butterfly.”