Oscar and Alphonse

Annalise was singing. She was in the back yard of her Grandmamma Jeans house. She was laying on a large pink quilt her grandmamma had made years before. Annalise was staring at the rolling clouds in the sky, and she was singing to them. It was a soft melody that Annalise had made up. 

Dear Big Clouds in the sky

Don’t rain on my day

Don’t let my grandmamma die

It’s my month of May

It was a strange little tune, high pitched and squeaky. She just kept repeating those 4 little sentences, over and over. She gazed at the clouds watching as they swirled about her, creating images with their endless stories.

           

Annalise was alone, her Grandmamma was inside baking rhubarb pies. The smell had wafted over to Annalise and her stomach started to turn and growl at her.

She turned over on her side to stare along the top of the green grass. That’s when she saw them. Two small brown caterpillars crawling toward her. One was larger than the other, both were a mud brown with lines of black.

Annalise crawled on all fours toward the two caterpillars. She picked up the larger one, and he was very fuzzy. Covered in little bristles, Annalise stroked his back. She then gently picked up the smaller one with her two fingers and placed both of them in the middle of her palm. They started to crawl around in her palm, their little feet tickled her.

Annalise had never had any pets.  These two little caterpillars would be her first. Annalise thought  “if these were her pets, she must name them.” She walked back over to that pink quilt, and sat cross-legged still holding those two little caterpillars. She studied their movements, and was contemplating names. “Oscar” she thought. “Oscar for the large one and Alphonse for the small one”. Oscar and Alphonse it was.

Annalise yanked a handful of grass from her right and placed in the middle of the quilt, she then slowly put Oscar and Alphonse down in that bed of grass. She would have to build them a home. She walked along the yard and gathered small sticks and leaves. She would make a fence. Annalise didn’t want to lose her small friends. After gathering a  couple handfuls of twigs, she started her craft. In the middle of her Grandmamma’s quilt she was building a little fence. No higher then an inch. On one corner she places a large leaf over, so that Oscar and Alphonse could have shelter, if those clouds did indeed decided to rain.

“What do caterpillars eat?” Annalise thought to herself. “Surely not other bugs, grass though, they must eat grass, that’s good they have grass, but water, Oscar and Alphonse must have water.” Annalise quickly ran over the to house walked through the screen door, to the kitchen and asked her grandmamma for a lid to one of her many mason jars. Grandmamma without question handed Annalise a lid, and Annalise filled it up with water and then had to slowly walk back out to the yard.

She placed their “water-dish” in the middle of their home. “There you go, now you can stay her forever” Annalise told her small caterpillar friends.  She then layed back down and gazed back at the clouds. “See that Oscar, it’s a bird, and there an octopus,  can you see that too Alphonse?”

Then Annalise started singing again.

Dear Big Clouds in the sky

Don’t rain on my day

Don’t let my grandmamma die

It’s my month of May

These are my babies

My friend they will be

Oscar and Alphonsy

We’ll be together forever, you’ll see.

It was late in the afternoon; Annalise had been out all day. The sun was starting to set in the distance, and the dark was slowly creeping its way above her. “Time for bed.” She picked up Oscar and Alphonse and held them in her palm as she walked to the screen door. She wanted to show her Grandmamma Jean, her brand new friends.

Grandmamma Jean was sitting in her old rocking chair, like she did every night. She held a book on her lap, and was looking very intent on finishing it. Annalise walked up to her side. “Grandmamma look at my new friends”. Grandmamma put down her book and gazed at Annalise’s palm, where the two brown caterpillars lay. “Oh Annalise, look what you’ve found. Did you name them?” “Yes Grandmamma this one (pointing at the larger one) is Oscar, and this one (the smaller one) is Alphonse.  You like them? Can I keep them? Can they sleep here?” Annalise pleaded.

Grandmammas looked at Annalise and then started to frown. “Im sorry Annalise they cannot stay here. These are wild caterpillars, they belong outside. You’ve had your fun with them today, but its time to let them go.”  Annalise was shocked. She couldn’t keep Oscar and Alphonse? She had to let them go? Annalise turned her head down and looked at the two caterpillars that were her friends.   A tear dropped from her eyelash.

Annalise couldn’t disobey her Grandmamma, she walked back out of the house, through the screen door, and into the yard. All the while not leaving the gaze she had for the little friends.

She knew it was time to send them back. The caterpillars softly wiggled in her hand spelling out “goodbye”. “Goodbye to you too, I’ll miss you.” She then crouched down to the grass and put out her hand. But Oscar and Alphonse didn’t leave. They wanted to stay with Annalise. She wanted to keep them, but she couldn’t. “Come on now, off you go.” She softly told them. Oscar and Alphonse started to wiggle themselves off her fingertips and into the green grass. “Goodbye Oscar, Goodbye Alphonse.” And with that Annalise stood up, turned around, and walked back into Grandmamma Jeans house where a piece of rhubarb pie was awaiting her.