Random Shorts/Thoughts Conceived Through Boredom

A caterpillar that befriends a psychotic individual

Okay...so this one came about during a Psychology at Work 'training day' sort of thing. Got bored during some of the exercises we were given and asked my friend for a thing to write about. I told her to go for anything...she said 'a caterpillar that befriends a psychotic individual' -_-'. So here is a terrible short based around that. (she also chose the colour and name...I feel that important to add now...so...yer)

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     "Hey!" Kylie spun round, she'd felt sure she was the only one who knew this path, no one else ever came this way. In fact, this was the only reason the petite redhead liked this route; the quiet, green atmosphere made her feel a sense of calm she didn't experience around people, even with the fine mists of rain dampening her hair and clothes. "I'm down here! How rude," the small voice continued. So it had definitely been a voice she heard before.

     Choosing to continue down her path with a shrug, she started humming. It was a tuneless hum, something she only did out in the wooded area, where no one would ever hear her. A little way down the path, her tune became louder, though she hadn't raised her voice any; the voice that had now joined her humming began to harmonise with her. She froze. She hadn't been humming anything in particular, so even if someone else was nearby, there was no way they could have followed along with her melody.

     "I said I'm down here! Anyway, why'd you stop? I was getting into that – I think we make a good duet!" Kylie's green eyes widened in panic as she slowly turned on her heel, the little voice had an accent she couldn't place, and no discernible body, but it did have a direction. "Good, good – now look down..." the voice trailed off, urging her to find its source. Glancing down slowly, a bright red mark on a leaf caught her attention, she knelt down to examine it. "Hello, at last," the brightly coloured thing wriggled in delight; it looked like a caterpillar. Kylie felt faint. "Wanna hum again? I feel like dancing!" Humming the tune from earlier, the caterpillar-thing started squirming slightly off the music.

     "You're not real," Kylie whispered, it wasn't even the strangest thing she'd ever seen if she was honest, but it was the first to speak to her like this in a long time. "I'm hallucinating, why?" The realisation dawned on her, causing her to scream. A few startled birds fluttered out of a nearby tree as she disturbed the natural quiet. No, this isn't happening again, this had stopped! There was no way she would let herself go through that again.

     As a child, Kylie's parents had always joked about her over-active imagination; living in her fantasy worlds where she constantly conversed with the unusual creatures she thought up. However, as she grew older, they became concerned, especially with as the older she got, the more horrific these fantasies became. After finding their daughter curled up in the middle of the stairs, screaming that she couldn't be moved because of the something she was staring at, they decided to take her to a psychiatrist. Six months later, she was discharged from hospital with a bucket load of anti-psychotic drugs with very specific directions that transformed her once bubbly self, into something of a zombie. For a while at least, her parents closely monitored her dosage, ensuring that she took each tablet on time, but soon enough they began to leave her to it. Tired of being stuck in a deadened form, Kylie started skipping doses; more and more pills were flushed down the toilet as she found she didn't suffer the loss of them. The length of time that had passed, had almost been enough to make the adolescent forget her diagnosis.

     Yet here she was, glaring at the bug which had proceeded to ignore her and continue wiggling to the off-beat tune, willing it to disappear. With a sigh, she turned and make her way back through the overgrown trail to her home. When did it get this dark? She thought serenely, attempting to think of something other than the persistent tune that seemed to be following her back through the wooded area. She suddenly regretted ever making the decision to leave the house that day. Her skin felt flushed in her hurry to get to her room, her safe haven, so she could wallow in self-pity there instead; speeding to a run, she finally burst through the woods and reached her conveniently placed home.

     Slamming through the modern looking white door at the front of the house, Kylie decided she liked the finality of the click as it closed behind her. She took the stairs two at a time to her room and threw herself on her bed, grabbing her iPod almost gratefully and pressed to shuffle.

      "Oooh, I like this one, haven't heard it in ages!" Banging her head on the thick wooden headboard of her bed, and almost rolling off the covers, she noticed the shape that was now wriggling over her screen.

     "What are you even supposed to be?" She mumbled stroppily, wondering why the hallucinations had started again now, and why this was what she came up with. If it was possible for a caterpillar to look puzzled, then this one did. Only now did she realise how cartoon-like the creature was; bright red skin (or outer-whatever caterpillars are covered in), large innocent looking eyes, and despite how small she originally thought it looked, it was large enough to cover her entire iPod classic, with legs so small it was a wonder they could support the rest of the body.

     "Duh, I'm a caterpillar. You never seen one before?" The caterpillar sassed back. "The name's Bartholowew, by the way. Not to be confused with Bartholomew."

     "Um, can I at least call you Bart?" She asked, wondering first where on earth she had heard that name, and secondly wondering why she was talking to what she knew was only in her head.

     "No," came the curt reply.

     "Oh, um, okay then," still staring at the bug, Kylie began to wonder again, why a cartoon caterpillar? Of all the things she had ever created in her mind, consciously or otherwise, a caterpillar, with a stupid made-up name? A sudden crackle of thunder snapped her out of her thoughts, and she jumped as the caterpillar threw itself down the front of her shirt. "What the Hell?" She cried out angrily, momentarily forgetting that despite the bug only existing in her head, her voice could still be hear throughout the house by the real people that also lived there.

     The dark material moved slightly as Bartholowew poked his head out the front. He squeaked quietly, the large eyes seeming to tear up slightly as he shivered. Another crash of thunder, closer this time, caused him to duck back under the creases of her shirt.

     "Sorry," came the muffled response a few moments later. "I-I don't like the thunder. It scares me!" Kylie couldn't help but feel a warmth towards the imaginary bug, thinking back to when she had to hide under her covers alone during storms as a child; her parents had sent her back to her room, despite her six year-old screams and tears of protest, telling her to stop being silly. She softened and smiled a little, with a sigh she patted the shirt where she 'felt' the bug.

     "It's okay," she whispered this time, more conscious of her sister in the next room. "You can stay there for a while." This might not be so bad, closing her eyes and plugging her headphones back in. It'll be okay if it's just the one hallucination, especially if it's this cute thing. Kylie let herself drift off, deciding she'd keep this to herself, for the time being at least, thinking it might be okay to have something to talk to, even if it wasn't real, she could hold onto it for a little while.

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