(Author's Notes:
1: Like most of my stories, this one will be updated once a day until completion 18 days from now
2: Take heed, just because this one is child-friendly doesn't mean all of my stories are. Watch the ratings)
BEING BORN CREEPIE
Chapter 01: Chrysalis
Another day like any other in Middlington Middle School. Walk through the hallways, find her classes, learn whatever the teachers felt like drilling into the students' heads, and move on for the rest of the day. She didn't even see her friends until she was on her way toward the front door, and she actually hoped that it would remain that way. She wasn't particularly angry at them or upset with them, but tomorrow was kind of a special day for her, and she preferred to spend it at home in the Dweezwold Manor with just her family. She knew if she ran into her red-headed friend, she would demand a celebration…
"Creeeeeepie!" Creepie Creecher winced and let out a soft sigh, resigning herself to what was to come as the sound of rapid footsteps echoed through the hallways. Slowly Creepie turned to watch her good friend Chris-Alice Hollyruller bound down the hallway toward her with her red ponytail bobbing behind her as if caught in a whirlwind. Her boundless energy was apparent in her tireless sprint while the broad grin on her lips, usually a welcome sight, proved Creepie's prior suspicion correct.
"Creepie!" Chris-Alice skidded to a stop in front of her with her hands clasped in front of her. "There you are! I've been looking for you all day!"
"I've been here all day." Creepie couldn't help a wry smirk. "Hello, Chris-Alice. What can I do for you?"
"You can come to my house tomorrow for your big birthday blowout! Woooo!" Chris-Alice leapt into the air as if waving a pair of pom-poms over her head while Creepie sighed inwardly. "I can't believe you didn't tell me tomorrow was your thirteenth birthday! The big one-three! This is huge, Creepie! You have to let us celebrate it in style, because without tomorrow, I wouldn't have one of my best friends in the world!"
Creepie rubbed the back of her neck with one hand, the other subconsciously playing with one of her pigtails. "I don't know, I usually like to spend the day at home with my family."
"Trust me, I'll make sure this is a party nobody will want to miss! I've already got it all planned out in my head, and I'm sure my mom will help me make it happen! This is going to be the best birthday you've ever had! Guaranteed or your friendship back." Chris-Alice giggled. "Little joke."
"Heh… heh…" Creepie forced a smile, then took a deep breath and mentally steeled herself for future regret. "Okay, I'll come by… but I can't spend the whole day there."
"No worries, you can leave any time and in the meantime we'll have great fun!" Chris-Alice squealed in excitement and rubbed her hands together. "Now I have to start putting my plans into motion. I'm sure the turnout for THIS party will be huge! You're coming, aren't you Budge?"
Creepie looked behind her with a genuine smile creeping across her lips as she saw her large, but incredibly gentle, best friend approaching with his wide, relaxed stride. "And where might I be coming to, Chris-Alice?" Budge asked curiously.
"Creepie's birthday party tomorrow, my place, two o'clock! See ya there!" Chris-Alice waved enthusiastically and whirled to run away without waiting for an answer. Creepie watched her go, then turned when she heard her best friend speak.
"I couldn't miss your party, Creepie. Why didn't you tell me?" Budge asked.
"I didn't tell anyone. She must've found it in the school records." Creepie waved for Budge to follow as she turned to leave the school, making her way to the sidewalk to turn in the direction of her home sweet home.
"Come to think of it, you didn't tell me when your birthday was last year, either." Budge walked beside her with his bulky arms swinging lazily at his sides. "You don't like celebrating it or something?"
Creepie shook her head and sighed. "No it's… not technically my birthday. I just told the school it was because I needed a birthday to register."
"Really? What day is it then?"
"It's the anniversary of the day my parents found me outside Dweezwold. We don't know my real birthday."
"Oh…" Budge fell silent for a moment, then spoke in a softer voice. "Sorry. No wonder you wanted to spend it with your family. It must be tough not knowing where you come from."
"Yeah well, after thirteen years of not knowing, I've come to grips with the idea that I'll probably never know." Creepie stopped outside the gate of her home and turned to flash her friend a disarming smile. "I'm fine, though. I'm happy here, and I like who I am now, so does it really matter where I came from?"
"Not to your friends." Budge gave her a broad, gentle smile. "If you want, I'll help you come up with an excuse to bail out of the party tomorrow."
"No, I'm sure Chris-Alice will put all her effort into it and I'll feel bad for letting her down by not showing up. I can spend a few hours at her party and spend the rest of the day here, it's not a big deal."
"Then I'll look forward to it." Budge smiled and gave her a friendly wave. "I should get back home and get this homework finished. Tell your parents I said hi."
"Will do." Creepie waved back as her friend turned to leave, then she turned to head into the large double-doors in front of the dusty and decrepit old mansion.
The old doors creaked open and Creepie was instantly met with the smell of dust and decay, a smell that brought a smile to her lips as she slipped her lithe body through the doors and closed them behind her. She could hear the skittering of tiny legs across the wooden floors and ceilings concealed among the shrill chatter of her numerous siblings and cousins, all of whom were darting across various areas of the mansion playing or eating.
She walked heedless through the throng of playful insects, stepping lightly over the ant colony that had taken up residence in the middle of the living room and ducking underneath the moths that were practicing aerial drills on the ceiling on her way to the kitchen. It was always quieter in here, since it was her mother's private sanctuary. Her mother only came in here when she was hungry, and when her mother got hungry, she could be rather scary for the rest of the bugs in the house, despite her policy of not eating friends and family.
"Good morning, Creepie." Her father Vince, a mosquito with blood red eyes, a blue cloak concealing gossamer wings, and a kind smile, looked up from the table where a small bowl of water was sitting in front of him on the table. Creepie didn't see her mother anywhere, and when she looked back at him he smiled and answered without being asked. "Your mother is out rustling up dessert for tonight. Grubs don't catch themselves, you know."
"Not unless they're really depressed, anyway." Creepie gave her father a forced smile and plopped down in one of the dining room chairs, leaning forward with her hands stacked on the table and her chin on her hands. "Dad, I know I always spend my anniversary here with the family… but Chris-Alice sort of invited me to her house tomorrow."
"Why that sounds like a lot of fun." Vince smiled. "Of course you can go. We're always saying you should try to spend more time with your human friends."
"Yeah, I guess. I'd just rather spend it here with you guys. I like it here, and being there with all of them just…" Creepie trailed off suddenly.
"What's the matter, Creepala?" Vince floated up to her and landed on her shoulder, placing one tiny hand against her cheek in concern.
"It just…" Creepie sighed and shook her head. "It's stupid, but it makes me feel like… I don't really belong. Anywhere. With them, or with you guys. It's like I'm human, but… not…"
Her father's voice grew soft. "Creepie, you know better than to worry about what others think of you."
"It's not about what they think of me. It's about what I think of me. I don't even know what I am." Creepie balled up one fist. "Maybe if I just knew something about where I came from…"
"Creepie, walk with me." Vince suddenly took off from her shoulder and hovered toward the kitchen door.
Curious, Creepie hopped down from the chair to follow him through the hallways beyond, her light steps passing across the rotted, creaking wood. Bugs of all kinds and sizes skittered out of the way as she walked past, though she was careful not to step on anyone. Soon he came to a hover in front of one of the bigger rooms in the back of the large mansion and quickly flitted through the keyhole. Being too big for that, Creepie gripped the doorknob and pushed her way inside as silently as she could.
Inside there were dozens, if not hundreds of delicate silken cocoons hanging from the walls and ceilings, so many that the rotted wood behind them was almost completely hidden, making the room look like it was spun entirely from a glittering spider's web. A smile crept across her face as she beheld the beautiful sight.
"Do you remember this room?" Her father asked kindly.
"Yeah, it's the Chrysalis Room." A smile crept across her lips. "Mom set this room aside so all the little larvae can have a safe, quiet place to spin their cocoons and chrysalises. Before I started going to school, I spent a lot of time in here. It was so peaceful."
Vince smiled. "Yes, I remember that. We could barely pry you away to eat. The larvae always liked having you around too, like a guardian. Or a companion." He hovered toward her and landed on her knee while she sat down on the bare floor to stare up at the masses of dangling shells. "I always thought you had a lot in common with the cocoons, and still do."
"What do you mean?"
"Like the bug in its chrysalis or cocoon, you've been changing, but for you the change has been happening for a very long time. It seems like every day you've grown and experienced so much, and very soon now you'll be blossoming into a beautiful moth and taking flight away from your family. Which is how it should be." Vince looked at her, then turned his bright red eyes on the forest of cocoons before them. "You know, many larvae go into those cocoons not knowing how they'll emerge. What color they will be, or how big they will be."
"Sounds scary."
"It is." Vince nodded. "But what is even scarier for them, is knowing that there is no going back. Once they emerge as a moth their days of being a larva are over forever. Looking to the past to see who they were means nothing." He turned his tiny blood red eyes on Creepie again, meeting her gaze with one of his own. "It's what you become that defines you Creepie, who you want to be, not where you come from or what you were."
"It just seems like it would be easier if I knew where I came from. At least a moth knows it was once a larva." Creepie replied. "But I get your point… I'll try to look forward from now on." She smiled. "Thanks for your help, dad."
"Myself and your mother are always here for you, Creepala." Vince floated up to head level to give her nose a brief hug. "Enjoy your friend's party. Spread your wings… a little bit at a time." He smiled.
"I will." Creepie smiled back and watched her father flutter back out of the room through the keyhole.
She started to rise from the floor, but then stopped and looked back at the wall of shells. Paulie and Gnat were often forced to come in here to clean up the old shells, so every single one of them in the room was full of life transforming into the next stage. With a thump, Creepie collapsed back onto the floor and leaned against the wall to watch them idly for the rest of the day, until long after the sun had gone down outside the window. The highlight of her day was the soft cracking of a shell as a new life emerged with painted wings.
TOMORROW: Chapter 02: Birthday Party
