Cedrick The Great Worm

Cedrick The Great Worm – A Children’s Story by Deborah Rothenberg

Have you ever looked down at the soil and wondered what is going on? I mean we all look up at the sky, through the canopy of trees, or towering tower blocks. We see birds and aeroplanes soaring through the high, weaving in and out of clouds that pepper the sky.

But have you ever thought about what is underground? Have you wondered about the diggers that move mounds of earth, or seen one recently – an Earth Digger.

No I don’t mean one of those big machines that workmen use on sites…

I mean the simple earthworm.

That,
wriggly, tiggly,
slimy, ooey, gooey, yukky, sticky, slippery
thing called the common garden Earthworm.
Well I have a little story to tell you about one Eathworm called Cedrick.
I am going to call him Cedrick because that’s his name!

He wasn’t just any earthworm. He was a worm that was always looking for the tastiest, yummiest bits of earth he could eat.
That way he could grow as big and as slimy as he possibly could. The bigger he got the more he could move. The more he could move, the more he could find the yummy food to eat and then – spit out the other end…

We like those worm eaten bits of mud… because worms do magic things when they eat and when they spit out the remains at the other other end. It’s full of rich nutrients that plants can suck up as food. The ground is full of interesting systems!

Now going back to Cedrick, he was near the bottom of the garden with his friends munching away under the grass when he thought,
“I wonder if there’s more out there?”

You see he was sure that there was, more taste, more flavor, more more more… and he begun to tunnel away from his friends.

“Where are you going??” They asked incredulously. Most worms enjoyed the tunnels around them just fine.
“I am going to see if there’s more at the bottom of the garden, I have a sense about it – I feel the big people walk over us each morning – and I think they are telling use something”.
“Please don’t leave us” they said.
“I am not leaving you – you can come with….I just think there’s more… more…” He hesitated “I think there’s more T.A.S.T.E at the bottom of the garden”.
“I am quite happy here” said Cedrick’s uncle, who had never tried anything new. He had eaten the same soil since he was born, and didn’t like it when anything changed.
“I want to join you!” Said Celia – Cedrick’s closest friend…”But”, and she trailed off…
Cedrick looked sadly at Celia and left – if you change your mind – just come to the bottom of the garden.

And so Cedrick begun to tunnel his way to the bottom of the garden. He didn’t get there in one day – it took a lot of tunneling and he got tired.

He didn’t get there in two days.

It took more tunneling and he got more tired.

But on the third day he arrived at the bottom of the garden.
And there he couldn’t believe his little worm mouth. He had never tasted such delights.
For at the bottom of the garden, was the spot the big people kept their compost heap. A big mound of rotting peelings, and cuttings, and tea bags, and coffee grounds, and left overs, and more.

Well at the bottom of this pile was Cedrick, he wormed his way to where he found what smelled like a place far away – he couldn’t explain it but he knew that there was something special about this brown mud that wasn’t mud (coffee grounds wink wink) – he started to eat, and eat and eat and eat and eat.
And he grew and grew and grew and grew until he didn’t look like Cedrick anymore but Cedrick The Great Worm King of The Compost Heap….

Because what he found at the bottom of the garden was what the big people had thrown away not eaten or used. He’d found the wet, damp, used, used yummy coffee that someone had taken the time to remember to throw on that heap at the bottom of the garden.

Because one man’s waste, is another worm’s feast.

So next time you see a worm, tell him to take a chance and travel to the compost heap – he won’t be disappointed.

About the Author: Deborah Rothenberg is an environmental ambassador for the city of London, and a passionate leader and advocate for London Ground to Ground.

Deborah has been busy promoting the many benefits of coffee composting, and wrote this story to inspire the next generation to get involved in making a difference. Awesome!