Willy Igily-Pigly

Willy Iglily-Pigly

Willy Iglily-Pigly is a worm who is afraid of the dark. It is very sad
when you know worms live under the soil, coming to the top only to eat
leaves and other matter that gathers on the top. Worms have to eat
these things to draw it into the soil to make our food grow.

Willy did his best, but no matter how hard Mrs Iglily-Pigly tried to
show him they were quite sate he still did not like the dark tunnels
under the earth. One very wet day when the rain would not stop all the
other worms had to come to the surface because their living quarters
where flooded and they had nowhere else to go.

Willy made straight for a flowerpot that was lying on its side. He
called to the other worms but they would not join him because he was
afraid of the dark and worms are not allowed to be afraid of the dark,
they would not be his friends Willy soon grew to big a very big long
worm, but he still lived under the pot in the garden. He soon learnt to
leave his rubbish under another pot He loved the rain because it washed
is food and the other worms came to the surface again even if they
would not talk to him. After a very long time grass grew arc~ Willy's
flowerpot and he now could hide when the birds came to look for food
for their little baby birds. He had seen many of his family taken up
the trees, as well as other worms and scraps of food left for them by
the people who lived in the big house at the top of the very big
garden. In the winter Willy would wrap a leaf around his long stripy
body to keep warm. One day Willy saw the people who live in the house
digging the garden, turning the soil over and over. Then they went back
indoors. Willy saw what looked like a lot of worms all wrapped up
together, when he went to see what it was he saw it was a lady worm
wrapped around her new tiny eggs. Willy knew when the sun came out
they, the lady worm and her babes would all dry out and die. So he
pushed Tilly with her babies into a hole and then he dragged leaf to
cover her. Tilly told Willy to go away, she wanted nothing to do with a
worm that was frightened of the dark, so away he went back to his
flowerpot. After a very long time he thought maybe he done the wrong
thing by covering up the worms, "Perhaps I've killed them by covering
them up from the sun". He could not sleep and decided to run away
before the others came after him for killing the family of worms.

First he made his way out of the garden, down the path, finally into a
field. Here he had some grass to slide and hide in he forgot he was
supposed to be running away. Willy noticed it was getting dark. The
darkness made him afraid, so, finding an old shoe he decided to stay in
the shoe until it was light again. Filling his stomach with as much
food as he could he went on his way to get as far away from the worms
in his garden where his family lived, they all thought he was a silly
worm for being afraid of the darkness under the soil. He had hardly got
as far as the gate on the other end of the field when he stopped
suddenly! Did a bad thing, at least I must go back to own up and see
what punishment they will give me." Very slowly he crawled back to his
garden. The journey back seemed so much longer than when we started out
"I didn't realised I had got this far, but go back I must!"

As Willy got near to the place he had left in shame, he heard lots of
worms all laughing and asking each other "Where's willy, we never
though he would do such a thing He deserves a medal" Willy thought "It
must be another Willy. Why would they want to give me medal?" slower
than before~ he slid under a stone and waited to see who this other
Wily was. He felt a bump at his back and looking round he saw a pretty
pale pink worm, it was the sweetest little lady worm Willy Iglily-Pigly
had ever seen! "Here he is," she said" He's hiding under the
stone"

Willy blushed the deepest red all down the whole length of long body.
The whole group crowed around him shouting "We want Willy for our
guardian. He can watch us when they dig over our homes. Welcome home
WilIy "they all shouted together. Mrs Iglily-Pigly explained that
Willy's cleverness in covering the lady worm and her babies and stopped
them being killed by the hot sun that day. The other worms would often
come to the surface just to spend time with Willy in his little flower
pot No two worms are alike and Willy now knows being different doesn't
make you coward or not able to do what you wish to do even if it's a
mistake, at least the thought was a kind act.

Phyllis Saunders