I know I am different. I see others walking around without a thought or care, with no self-awareness or knowledge of who they are or what they are doing, lost in their own little world. But I am aware. I see, feel, hear, and smell my surroundings, yet I am separate from it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
I don\u2019t think I\u2019m supposed to know these things, but somehow I do. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
A face peers down at me from the broad expanse above. \u201cOh, what a disgusting creature,\u201d says a voice. \u201cI hate caterpillars.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
A boot descends toward me\u2014hideous and terrifying\u2014and everything goes black.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I spot the little fuzzy brown lump wriggling across the porch. \u201cOh, what a disgusting creature,\u201d I say. \u201cI hate caterpillars.\u201d I lift my boot, but before I can crush it under my heel, I stop. Yuck, that will make a squishy mess. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
I pause a moment to think. Who am I to decide this lowly lifeform isn\u2019t worthy to walk the same ground, breathe the same air, or live a full life as I do? Aren\u2019t we all part of God\u2019s creation?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Gently, I pick up the caterpillar, walk to a nearby bush, and release it into the leaves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Two 100-word mirrored stories, a diptych.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I. Knowing I know I am different. I see others walking around without a thought or care, with no self-awareness or knowledge of who they are or what they are doing, lost in their own little world. But I am aware. I see, feel, hear, and smell my surroundings, yet I am separate from it. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2857,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[19],"tags":[14,15],"class_list":["post-2856","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-drama-literary","tag-drabble","tag-microfiction"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":7}},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/twistytales.com\/staging\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/The-Worth-of-a-Life.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/twistytales.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2856","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/twistytales.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/twistytales.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/twistytales.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/twistytales.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2856"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/twistytales.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2856\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4119,"href":"https:\/\/twistytales.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2856\/revisions\/4119"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/twistytales.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2857"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/twistytales.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2856"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/twistytales.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2856"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/twistytales.com\/staging\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2856"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}