1.From the egg to the nest.
The first thing I remember about my life is that I was like a tiny seed floating in a warm sea inside an egg. From there, I could hear my parents’ voices, and although I didn’t understand what they were saying, I sensed that they were happy and were looking after the egg -my first home- as if they knew about me.
My life was perfectly joyful until I noticed that, without any action on my part, my size was increasing. From seed, I was transforming into something more like an earthworm: a long body with a head, on which I would later grow two eyes and a mouth. I always wondered why I developed these things, which were useless to me then.
Later, I discovered with great concern that while my size kept increasing, the size of my home remained unchanged. Soon, I began to feel imprisoned and very uncomfortable there until one day, I could no longer fit, and the pressure of my body caused the shell to break and fall to pieces, leaving me exposed to the unknown!
I was overwhelmed with fear! Too many unfamiliar sensations engulfed me, and for a fleeting moment, I believed it was the end. The world outside the egg was a terrifying place, and I doubted my ability to endure it. However, the comfort I found under my mother’s tender wings and the reassuring gaze of my father assured me of my safety.
My new life in the nest was quite entertaining. But it was more challenging than in the egg. Now, unknown needs assailed me, such as hunger, cold, thirst, aches, itching, and things that I could not keep away from me on my own because I had not yet grown arms with hands or legs with feet. Nor did I know how to make myself understood. So when I needed something, like food or drink, all I could do was scream at the top of my lungs until someone guessed what I wanted.
This method was uncomfortable for everyone. And I used to get mad when my parents didn’t understand me, and gave me water when hungry or patted me on the back when I needed my nose wiped!
I felt the urgent need to learn the names of things around me. Still, grownups said so many words together that matching the words with the objects was impossible.
Fortunately, it didn’t take long for my parents to realize what I was trying to do, and with great patience, they began to teach me the names of all the things in the nest and its surroundings.
Shortly after, I noticed I was growing arms with hands, similar to adult bugs’. However, my hands seemed to have their own mind. They did whatever they wanted, only obeying me by getting inside my mouth to play with my tongue or to find out if I was teething. For everything else, those mischievous hands were very disobedient and restless. And sometimes they were pretty evil! They often scratched my face or stuck their fingers in my eyes. I hated them doing that! But how could I defend myself against them?
Thus, the great challenge of taming those wild hands was added to the arduous task of learning to speak.
Life outside the egg was not easy at all! It was becoming so exhausting that I used to fall asleep all the time anywhere. But deep in my heart, I felt happy to be there because my parents and the other prairie bugs seemed delighted with me and gave me their support and affection without asking for anything in return, just because they loved me.
With time and plenty of practice, my hands and I began to agree, and we became great friends. Which, by the way, didn’t always make my parents happy since they seemed not to approve of all our ideas. I remember that more than once, they scolded us for grabbing things they didn’t want to share and even started putting them out of our reach!
Then, my arms and I would stretch as far as we could to grab them, but my parents knew very well where to put those things so we couldn’t reach them.
Soon I realized I had to learn to move around the nest independently. So far, I could only go where adults wanted to carry me in their arms, significantly limiting my possibilities of exploring the world at will.
Since I had not yet grown legs with feet, the only way to move was by crawling along the floor, propelled by my arms and hands. How difficult it was to learn to do this! Even though my father, seeing my effort, would lie down next to me and show me how to do it. Of course, it was easy for him because his arms were strong, while mine did not yet have powerful muscles like his!
But I didn’t give up, and with effort and perseverance, I developed my muscles and found my way around the issue. And finally, one day, I managed to make some progress.
I felt so happy! Now, it was just a matter of keeping on to it, and soon, I would be able to go wherever I wanted.
Once I could crawl at a considerable speed, my parents and I started racing toward goals like the cat, a vase, or a floor lamp. And even though they had legs with feet, I’d often managed to reach first!
Sadly, I discovered that sometimes adults are bad losers and get angry when beaten. Moreover, the big cheaters again put my favorite goals out of reach. Even the traitor cat took their side, climbing into places I couldn’t reach!
But I wouldn’t give up so easily. From that moment on, my new goal was to stand up and grow tall.
Luckily, as soon as I undertook this new challenge, I noticed that I was now growing two legs with feet similar to those of adults. But this process was less pleasant and fast than the growing of my arms with hands had been. This process was annoying and painful. And to top it all off, around that same time, I also started teething!
Although I had not yet learned to speak and could not explain what was happening to me, my parents seemed to realize that I was not having a good time and spoiled me even more than usual. Maybe they remembered when they had to go through the same process, and that’s why they understood me.
The suffering in those days seemed to have no end, but I never gave up. Until I finally managed to take my first steps! The joy both my parents and I felt was such, that at this very moment, I forgot everything I had had to endure until then.
After this, I spent the whole day running back and forth inside the nest, racing with my parents again. The only one who didn’t seem to be too glad about my achievements was the cat, who, from then on, always kept a safe distance from my hands. However, he never let me out of sight, and at night, he came to sleep at the foot of my bed. I think he still loved me deep down. But with these furry creatures, no one can tell.
I also began to make myself understood better. I had learned to pronounce the names of various things so that adults could make out what I wanted. Once more, my efforts had paid off!
The months that followed were cheerful and stimulating. My hands and feet
had become my best allies, and together, we threw ourselves headlong into the
adventure of discovering the wonderful world that surrounded us.
The adult bugs, especially my parents, were affectionate with me, and we slowly began to understand each other better.
My father used to take me out on the prairie with him, and he helped me unravel
the secrets hidden in nature. While inside the nest, my mother showed me the way to a world invisible to the eyes, and she taught me to draw everything I discovered in that imaginary world with colored pencils on white sheets of paper.
Plus, I met other little bugs like me, and we learned to play together in our beloved prairie.
But not everything was always fun and joy in the nest. I don’t know why, but suddenly, my parents got an idea stuck in their heads, and there was no way to make them give up. How capricious and stubborn could the adult bugs sometimes be!
For example, one day, they decided I should go to sleep when they wished, whether I was sleepy or not. So, I tried my best to make them understand that I didn’t feel like going to bed, but there was no point. We would almost always end up angry, and even so, they insisted until they defeated me by exhaustion. Not even my screams, which until then had served to make them try to understand what I wanted, seemed to have no effect!
And as they say, misfortunes never come alone! Suddenly, another egg appeared in the nest. At first, I didn’t worry because I didn’t know what consequences this event would have later in my life. Moreover, since they all were so thrilled, I was also delighted. My life was not affected in the slightest, and my Mom was more affectionate than usual.
But one day, the shell broke, and my little brother appeared from among the pieces!
From that day on, Mom was no longer just mine and spent too much time caring for the newcomer. I must admit that my brother was a cute little bug and seemed to need a lot of care. But I disagreed that my mother would take care of him. Why didn’t he get a Mom for himself instead of stealing mine?
Dad tried to make up for my mother’s indifference by spending even more time with me and taking me everywhere he went. But I still felt very jealous of that bug, who had become the new king of the nest.
If I screamed, they scolded me, but if he yelled, everyone ran to see what was happening to “His Imperial Highness”!
Amazingly, they all said having a brother to play with was very nice. But that screaming bug didn’t even have arms with hands! And when he finally grew them, it was even worse because he used them to grab my toys.
However, I don’t know why, but I still loved him. Maybe something similar to what had happened to the cat with me was now happening to me with my brother…
In any case, once my brother had legs with feet and learned to walk, we began to get along better. Although I don’t think I ever forgave him for stealing my Mom.
And, even though we always fight about everything, I must admit that life in the childhood prairie would not have been as fun without a little brother to play with and who to bother.
Imagolya 