Wiggly's Day Out - Short story for children

Once upon a time there was a little wriggly worm that lived under ground, in the moist soil. Each day he was working hard, digging galleries in order to bring more oxygen to the roots of the plants. He had been working restless from a very young age.

One day Wiggly decided to take a break from work and go in vacation. He imagined that the beach would make a perfect destination. Thus he packed his backpack and left for the beach. He travelled for three days until he saw the soil turning into sand, and felt its warmth. He was very happy to finally be able to relax.

He dugged his way up and he was blasted by a strong light. He had never seen the sun before. He was mesmerized by the sun. For a few minutes he gazed at the waves and even dreamt of going into the water. His day dream was shortly interrupted by an earthquake. The sand rumbled under the thundering steps of a gianormous creature, a boy, who almost stepped on him.

The wriggly worm was shocked to see the giant. No one had ever mentioned to him that giants were real. He wondered if it was a secret well kept by his folks.

As he was recovering from the shock, he felt a bit faintish. Also something smelled like burnt. Within seconds he felt a burning sensation on his skin. When he turned to look at his body he realized that he had got a major sunburn. His skin had turned from pink to a dark red, and it looked all dried, almost cracked.

The hot sun had got him dehydrated. He was about to turn into a dried elongated raisin. He had to find shelter right away. The heatstroke drained his energy levels. Thus he was no longer able to dig his way back into the sand. Therefore, he wriggled his way to a shaded corner, which happened to be under the beach table of the giant.

Once he took cover in the shade, he tried to cover his body into the sand to cool down his burns, hoping that the moisture will sooth his wounds. Unfortunately the sand was nothing like the soil he was familiar with. The sand grains were rough and hot. More he moved around, more scratches he got.

Disappointed by the fact that his vacation was a disaster, the exhausted wriggly worm passed out for a few hours. Later on he woke up all of the sudden when he felt an icy liquid dripping on his head, going down on his body. It felt good for a few seconds, but then he realized that it was sticky and made all the sand stay on him.

The giant had spilled his icy drink and most of it had landed on his body. Wiggly hated that sticky feeling. He was not a slug! He felt bad for leaving home and being so reckless.

The evening had come and the scorching sun went to sleep. The wriggly worm was in so much pain that he could not move. Luckily a storm was brewing. The whole night it rained and rained. The cold raindrops washed away the grains of sand of his body and hydrated his skin. By morning, the wriggly worm was feeling much better.

When the first ray of sun woke him up, he decided to go back home. His dark galleries were far more safer for him and he did not mind continuing his work. He watched the sunrise for the first and last time and then he dug his way back.

Image by Alan Frijns from Pixabay

Here are some other short stories for children that I wrote and posted here on Hive or Steemit:
TROUBLE IN THE ALPHABET HOUSE
GREEN DRAGON'S TALE
MR. SNUTZEL'S GREAT ADVENTURE

If You Are Interested In Purchasing Any Of My Works,
check out my GALLEA online art gallery page HERE
or visit my website: lavipicu.com.

Lavi Picu is an interdisciplinary artist, currently residing in Montreal, Canada. She is an emerging visual artist who uses painting and poetry as alternative forms of self expression as well as pain management therapy for Lyme disease. She is also the author of four soulful collections of poetry.

@2022 Lavi Picu aka Lyme Poet. All rights reserved.

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