The Worm that Turned
There was once a worm that turned.... into an explorer! His lifelong home, which was a field by a brook, had once been perfect. The soil had been full of little holes which allowed air and moisture to come through, without making the soil too wet. It had been warm, and there had been plenty of vegetable mould, which is good worm food.
Then the owner of the land had moved away. The ditches filled with rainwater, the land became flooded and many worms were drowned. In winter the whole field was frozen into a solid block of ice; only a few worms lived through this terrible time.
But one of the worms that did live was a pioneer. he left his birth-place and moved to higher ground. Since he didn't want to be eaten for breakfast by an early bird, he had to burrow down and be well out of sight before dawn.
The top of his new home was a mixture of sand, clay and fine gravel. Nothing had grown there for years. The earth had been soaked by the rain in winter and baked by the sun in summer and it was nearly as hard as concrete, but the worm had to get in or die.
So he pushed out his nose until its needle like point found an entrance between the hard packed grains of sand. He kept on pushing till he had gone down half an inch. Still the ground was so hard that he had to eat his way down.
Then the owner of the land had moved away. The ditches filled with rainwater, the land became flooded and many worms were drowned. In winter the whole field was frozen into a solid block of ice; only a few worms lived through this terrible time.
But one of the worms that did live was a pioneer. he left his birth-place and moved to higher ground. Since he didn't want to be eaten for breakfast by an early bird, he had to burrow down and be well out of sight before dawn.
The top of his new home was a mixture of sand, clay and fine gravel. Nothing had grown there for years. The earth had been soaked by the rain in winter and baked by the sun in summer and it was nearly as hard as concrete, but the worm had to get in or die.
So he pushed out his nose until its needle like point found an entrance between the hard packed grains of sand. He kept on pushing till he had gone down half an inch. Still the ground was so hard that he had to eat his way down.
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