The Adventures of Marvin Theodore Harvey:
Worms, Worms, Worms
By Michael Biagiotti
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PUBLISHED BY
The Adventures of Marvin Theodore Harvey:
Worms, Worms, Worms
copyright 2009
www.veryboringplace.com
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The Adventures of Marvin Theodore Harvey:
Worms, Worms, Worms
Daffodil, Larue and Marla like to wake up early and listen to the birds sing. They also like to watch them collect twigs and look for food. One thing birds like to eat is worms. A mama bird will find one for herself and then find more worms for her baby birds.
Daffodil doesn’t like worms at all. She says, “It’s so gross that pretty birds find worms, pull them out of the mud and eat them. That makes me sick just thinking about it.”
One day when she was making mud pies, she suddenly screamed very loudly. When Marla and Larue ran over to see what was wrong, it turned out she had accidentally touched a worm while scooping up some mud. To get her to stop screaming, they had to find the worm and make sure it was moved far away.
On this morning, as they are watching a mama bird dig up worms, Marvin and Albert stop by. Before they can say anything, they are quickly shushed. Daffodil, Larue and Marla are listening to the baby birds sing and don’t want it interrupted.
When the song is over, Daffodil says, “It might be gross that they’re eating worms, but that sure was a pretty song they were singing.”
Larue agrees, “It was beautiful.”
To the surprise of everyone, Marla suddenly bursts out laughing. Although Marla speaks in “meeps” that usually only Marvin understands, she is also able to speak with small creatures.
When Marla is through laughing, Marvin asks, “Okay Marla. What’s so funny?”
She replies, “Meep meep meep. Meep meep, meep meep…” She goes on and on meeping, telling Marvin what exactly is so funny. Part of the explanation is a song which causes him to laugh out loud.
When Marla finally stops meeping and Marvin stops laughing, Daffodil says, “Okay Marvin. Now you tell us. What’s so funny?”
He says, “Marla was just telling me what the baby birds were singing to the mama bird. It goes like this…”
“Worms, worms, worms,
Slimy and delicious,
Worms, worms, worms,
Tasty and nutritious,
Worms, worms, worms,
May we have another,
Worms, worms, worms,
From the world’s greatest mother.”
They all start laughing and singing along. Daffodil thinks about the song for a minute and starts to gag. “Yuck!” she says, ‘That’s so disgusting.”
Marvin and Albert tease her, “Ha! Ha! I can’t believe you’re so grossed out by little worms.”
Daffodil yells back, “You guys be quiet. Worms are the grossest things ever.”
They taunt her more by chanting, “Worms! Worms! Worms!”
She starts chasing them and yells, “You guys knock it off.”
Larue adds, “Yeah! Leave Daffodil alone.”
Daffodil chases them towards the mama and baby birds, who quickly fly away. Marvin and Albert reach down into the mud and each grab a worm. They turn around with worms in hand and hold them out toward Daffodil. This stops her right in her tracks and she lets out a loud, “Ewww! Yuck!”
Before she can do anything else, they throw their worms at her. One lands on top of her head, and the other lands across her face. She immediately screams, wipes the worms off and runs away crying.
Marvin and Albert find it all very funny, but Larue is not amused. She steps in and scolds them, “You should be ashamed of yourselves. You made Daffodil cry.”
She and Marla take off after Daffodil, leaving behind Marvin and Albert. Marvin finally admits, “I feel awful about doing that to Daffodil. We’re going to have to do something to make up for it. But what?”
Albert suggests, “I wish we could make all the worms in the world disappear. Then Daffodil would never be grossed out by them. And she would have us to thank for it.”
Marvin says, “But that would be impossible.”
Albert sighs, “Yeah. I guess you’re right.”
Albert’s idea gets Marvin thinking. He finally snaps, “Wait a minute. Maybe we can’t get rid of all the worms in the world, but we can get rid of all the worms in the woods.”
Albert says, “Yeah! But how?”
Marvin replies, “We’ll dig them all up, put them in buckets and carry them to the next woods over. That's how.”
Albert smiles and says, “Let’s do it!”
Each goes and gets a bucket and returns to that very spot, because they know that’s where the worms are. They dig in the mud and each worm they find is put in a bucket. One by one the buckets slowly fill up. When they are completely full, they start the long walk to the next woods over. They stop and rest often.
Albert finally says, “This sure is a lot of hard work. We’ve been at it for hours and we’ve hardly done anything. And these buckets are heavy.”
Marvin agrees, “You’re right. At this rate it’s going to take us days or weeks or even months to get all the worms to the next woods over. I don’t know what we’re going to do.”
Just then, Marla and Larue walk up. Marla asks, “Meep meep meep?”
Marvin proudly answers, “To make up for grossing out Daffodil and making her cry, we’re going to take all the worms from our woods and move them to the next woods over. That way they can’t gross out Daffodil anymore.”
Marla asks, “Meep meep meep meep?”
Marvin says, “Of course it’s a good idea to get rid of the worms. All they do is crawl around in the mud and gross out Daffodil. The woods don’t need any worms. Right Albert?”
Albert agrees, “Yeah. Marvin’s right. We’re doing a good thing for Daffodil.”
Marla says, “Meep meep meep meep. Meep meep meep.”
Marvin responds, “What do you mean worms are polite and say nice things? I didn't even know they made any noise, let alone could talk.”
Larue answers for Marla, “Just because you and I can't hear them doesn't mean they can't talk. Marla can hear them and talk to them.”
Marvin quickly comes up with a new plan, “Well then wait a second. Since Marla can talk to worms, maybe she can save Albert and I some work. She can tell the worms that tomorrow the woods are going to be paved over and turned into a parking lot. There won't be any dirt or mud left. She can tell them to go to the next woods over where there's plenty of mud to crawl around in. That would be perfect! All the worms could crawl over on their own so Albert and I won't have to carry them in buckets.”
Marla isn’t sure she wants to lie to the worms. She looks at Marvin and says, “Meep meep meep meep.”
Marvin replies, “Oh, come on Marla. Who’s more important to you… Daffodil or a bunch of worms?”
Marla doesn’t want to let Marvin and Albert down, so she meeps to the bucket of worms. They understand her to say, “You’re being moved to the next woods over because tomorrow these woods are going to be paved over and turned into a parking lot. There won’t be any more mud to crawl around in. But, if you and the rest of the worms crawl to the next woods over, it will save us the work of carrying these buckets.”
The worms say to Marla in their strange worm language that only Marla seems to hear, “Thank you for letting us know. Most don’t care enough to tell the worms about these sorts of things.
We certainly will go over to the next woods over. We’ll be gone by morning.”
Marla lets her friends know that the plan is in action.
Marvin says, “Good work Marla. Daffodil is going to be so excited. We’ll surprise her with the news in the morning.”
The next day comes around, and Marvin, Albert, Larue and Marla are in the woods looking for her.
Albert says, “I can’t wait to surprise Daffodil with what we’ve done.”
Marvin adds, “It’s going to be awesome.”
Although it’s unusually quiet, it’s still a nice morning. After walking around for a little while, they finally see her running towards them. Marvin and Albert are all smiles, but try to act normal so as not to spoil the surprise.
Before they can do anything, Daffodil says, “Something’s wrong with the woods. I’ve been here all morning and it’s been very quiet. Then I realized there weren’t any birds singing. I looked all around, but I couldn’t find any. I haven’t seen or heard any birds anywhere. It’s very strange.”
They all listen for a minute before Marvin says, “You’re right Daffodil. That is weird.”
Everyone nods in agreement and Albert says,