Title: Geometridae
Fandom: Hans Christian Andersen (1952 film)
Length: 100
Content notes: no warnings apply
Summary: Arithmetic is not the only way of organizing the world.




Hans listens to the voices of the children in the schoolroom chanting their arithmetic. It's a sad little tune, full of the longing to be outdoors. Hans wishes they could join him outside. The schoolmaster has closed the door against the flowers and the sunshine, against Hans and his stories.

"An inchworm!" Peter says, delighted, "The first of the year."

More arithmetic, Hans thinks; the inchworm is too busy measuring the flowers to stop and enjoy their beauty.

He doesn't make the connection himself till much later: like the ugly duckling, the inchworm will be transformed into something altogether unexpected.


***

The scene that inspired the fic is here; the title refers to the species of moths to which the caterpillar belongs (a species which includes the Peppered Moth).