A/N: In answer to a random Tumblr prompt. Probably not what the anonymous request person had in mind, but this is what immediately came to mine. Hope you enjoy!

Caterpillar

The little girl looked around with curious eyes—at the asphalt beneath her feet, at her father's knees as he walked alongside her, and at the plants growing alongside the road as they walked. She was taking in the scent of the fresh air when they came upon a mailbox in a bucket. The bucket was almost as tall as she was at her mere three years of age, and thus the beautiful and brightly colored flowers inside were at the perfect height for her to stare and marvel at.

"Daddy?"

"Yes, Abby Joy?"

Something about her father's voice always made her feel...good. That was all she knew. But that thought flew away as she recalled her question.

"What are these?" They were the biggest flowers she had ever seen, and seemed to only be made of one petal, though their edges were curled delicately.

"These are petunias," he said, giving the name of the flower.

Abby leaned in closer at the vibrant colors. She had never seen colors so...rich.

"What's this color, Daddy?"

She glanced up as her father paused. "I think it's called magenta. Your mother would know for sure. We can ask her when we get back."

Abby watched her father use his camera phone to take a picture, and when she turned back to the flowers her eyes widened in surprise. Crawling across the petals of the magenta petunia...was a creature.

She leaned in closer to look at the creature. It was as long as her finger and bright green. It looked squishy and soft, and didn't seem to have a face or even legs. But it moved across the flower petal by squishing its body together like a wave, and then she saw tiny things that must have been legs attaching back to the petal where it moved.

The closer she looked at the creature, she realized it did have a face—just not like any she'd seen before. The face was small and flat, and seemed to have tiny hairs. And she realized that the front 'legs' were more like claws, and there were three pairs of them, while the rest appeared to be sticky. The creature paused its rhythmic movement and put its 'face' down on the petal, and Abby realized it must be eating it. She squeezed her father's hand.

"Daddy," she said with hushed excitement, "what is it?"

She looked up at her father, who was smiling his usual smile.

"It's a caterpillar."

"Cat...er...piggle."

"Yes," her father said through a chuckle. "Caterpillar."

She grinned and stared at the small creature as it somehow ate the edge of the flower petal. She was surprised then when her father reached around her and picked up the tiny creature, it disappearing into his hand.

"Open your hands," he said.

Abby cupped her hands in front of her and watched as the revealed creature, which had curled on her father's palm, was poured into her hands. It felt soft, like the texture of one of her mother's dresses. And when it uncurled and began walking, its front legs prickled her skin while the back ones felt sticky.

The creature crawled up her hand and to one of her fingertips, and then to her surprise began to crawl around and under her hand. Her eyes widened as it vanished, and she lifted her hand up and saw in surprise as the creature still clung to her hand, upside down now, and kept crawling.

"Do you want me to put it back?" her father's voice interrupted her focus.

Abby turned her hand over and watched the creature pause in confusion at the change in orientation before it continued moving. She looked up at her father.

"Can we keep it?"

"No, but I can get you another one. Caterpillars..."

Abby watched her father pause abruptly and think for a moment. She waited until he spoke again.

"Caterpillars do something magical."

Abby's eyes widened. "They do?"

"Yes," her father said with a smile. "I'll order some when we get home."

Abby puzzled over the idea of ordering a cater...piggle, and when she looked back to the one on her hand, she gasped. The green, wriggling creature was gone. Her heart started to pound as she turned her hand and arm over, looking for it.

"Daddy!" she cried softly, unable to find the green thing.

"Hold still," her father said softly as he knelt next to her.

She continued turning her arm in worry until her father took her arm at the wrist to hold it still. She blinked in confusion at his other hand pointing downward, until a few seconds later she saw the green creature floating in the air halfway to the ground. After another moment she realized it was hanging by a thread, like a spider.

Her lips parted in awe, and her father having seen that she noticed collected the creature in his hand and poured it back onto the petunia where it had come from. Abby watched it curl up to resemble a green snail for a few moments before it slow uncurled, and then resumed its meal of the flower petal.

"Is that the magic?" she asked softly.

"No. You'll have to wait to see," her father said, standing again slowly and rubbing his low back afterward, as was his habit.

Abby furrowed her brow at the strange creature as she took her father's hand again, and their walk resumed. She wondered just what magic such a small creature had, and why it was the way it was... But the second was a question she couldn't find words for. As she puzzled over how to say it, she noticed another flower growing by the roadside, and for the moment she forgot all about the strange green creature.

Abby hurriedly climbed the stairs ahead of her father when they returned home, and when he opened the door she rushed inside and looked for her mother.

"Mama!" she cried happily, seeing her near the sofa.

"Shhh!" her mother admonished gently. And before she continued, Abby had already realized why. "Your brother is sleeping."

Abby looked at her baby brother, asleep on the sofa next to where her mother was folding laundry. She crashed into her mother's legs and hugged her tightly until she knelt down to return the gesture.

"Mama!" she whispered. "We saw a caterpiggle! Daddy said they're magic and...he's going to order some!"

Her mother hugged her and picked her up, and Abby put her arms around her neck.

"Oh he did," she said with a grin, looking past Abby.

Abby turned just in time to see her father's smile before he embraced them both. Abby immediately started pushing her father away, but of course his hug around them was too strong.

"Mmmmh!" he hummed loudly as he kissed her mother.

"You're always kissing!" Abby complained, though she secretly loved being squished between them, knowing her kisses would come next. "Why are you always kissing!"

She kept pushing on her father and waited through her mother's answering hum and the lingering affections, before she felt both of their lips on her cheeks. She giggled at the ticklish feeling, and then there was a small loss of warmth as her father finally let go. She watched her father sit on the sofa in the small space next to the laundry and lean over her sleeping baby brother, caressing his cheek with the backs of his fingers.

Abby turned back to her mother and smirked.

"Mama," she whispered, watching to see her father wasn't looking. "Do you know what the caterpiggle magic is?"

Her mother smirked before replying. "Yes... But if your father didn't tell you, you'll just have to wait."

Abby made a small show of pouting, though she wasn't really that disappointed. "Awwww!"

"It's worth the wait," her mother said as she let her back down to the floor.

Abby leaned on the side of the sofa for a moment, looking at her sleeping brother's dark hair and fair skin that was a match to hers. Her mother had resumed folding the clothes, and after a moment her father stood up to help her. But he gave her another long kiss before doing so.
Abby rolled her eyes as she'd seen her mother do many times. And then she quietly snuck off to the bookshelf in the den to see if she could find a book about caterpiggles.

A/N: Sequel, anyone?