Crabby goes to Gardening Club
Crabby was bored. He was watching Sofia get ready for school when he suddenly had an idea. I’m going to Freshwater Bay Primary School, he thought, creeping into Sofia’s ponytail. Crabby was bubbling with excitement as he enjoyed a short car ride to the school from the safety of Sofia's hair.
First up was Spelling Mastery. This went smoothly enough, though Crabby privately felt the word “crustacean” ought to have come up at least once. Music class was trickier — every time the class sang, Sofia’s ponytail swished in time, and Crabby had to grip on with all eight legs, muttering to himself about the injustice. Maths class was, in Crabby’s expert opinion, the most sensible lesson of the day, mostly because nobody moved very much and he could have a bit of a rest.
By lunchtime, Crabby was rather looking forward to a quiet snooze. Sofia, however, had other plans. She grabbed her hat, met her best friend Emma by the door, and the two of them dashed off to Gardening Club.
“We’re on weeding duty today,” Emma announced, far too cheerfully for Crabby’s liking.
Weeding, thought Crabby, as Sofia knelt down by a row of tomato plants and started pulling at the dandelions. Marvellous. An entire lunchtime dedicated to yanking things out of the dirt. Truly the pinnacle of school life.
Bored, and fairly sure nobody would notice, Crabby slipped quietly out of the ponytail and down into the garden bed for a proper look around. That was when he spotted her: a plump, cheerful green caterpillar named Wiggles, munching happily away on a tomato leaf.
“Oi,” said Crabby, sidling up. “That’s not weeds, that’s tomato.”
The caterpillar looked up, mid-chew, entirely unbothered. “It’s delicious, though.”
“That’s not the point!” said Crabby. “Sofia and her friend are trying to grow tomatoes — real ones, red and juicy — and you’re eating the plant before it’s even had a chance.”
Wiggles considered this, chewing thoughtfully. “I didn’t think about it like that. I just eat what’s green and nearby.”
“Well, there’s plenty green and nearby that isn’t tomato,” said Crabby, waving a claw at the dandelions Sofia and Emma were busily pulling up. “Those weeds, for instance. Nobody wants those. You’d be doing everybody a favour.”
The caterpillar crawled over, sampled a dandelion leaf, and her whole face lit up. “Oh, that’s much better. Crunchier, too.”
“There you go,” said Crabby, quite pleased with himself. “Weeds for you, tomatoes for them. Everybody’s happy.” “I’ve got friends who’d love this,” said Wiggles, already turning to go. “I’ll tell them all to come and eat the weeds instead!”
And off she went, wriggling away through the garden bed to spread the word, leaving Crabby alone with the tomato plants and a rare feeling of having done something rather good.
He scrambled back up into the ponytail just as Sofia stood up, dusting the dirt off her knees. “Emma, look!” she said, pointing at the tomato plant. “This one’s got heaps of leaves still. Maybe it’ll actually grow properly this time!” “Lucky one,” said Emma.
Not luck, thought Crabby smugly, settling back into his hiding spot as the bell rang for the end of lunch. Diplomacy. Very possibly the greatest diplomatic achievement of my career. Someone really ought to give me a medal.
Nonna’s note: Crabby has a small chat in a garden, and everybody gets what they need — tomatoes for the girls, weeds for the caterpillars. That’s the best kind of clever, little one.
Nonno’s note: In my day we didn’t negotiate with caterpillars, we simply squashed them! But I admit, Crabby’s way probably works better for the tomatoes.
Ari’s note: WOOF. Nobody invited me to Garden Club. I would have eaten the weeds AND the caterpillar.
The End