I. The Little Gecko’s Home
In a small town in the south, the sun is always warm. There is an old house with a little gecko living in the corner, his name is “Dot Dot Dot”. Dot is not very big, just the size of a human thumb. She is grayish-brown all over, but has a pair of especially bright eyes.
Every night, Dot likes to lie on the wall and wait for small insects to fly by. The light of the summer night attracts many small flying insects, and Dot takes the opportunity to catch and eat them.
One night, while catching bugs, Dot asked her mother, “How come we can climb around on the wall and not fall off?”
Mom stopped, raised one paw, and said, “Look at the bottom of our feet, there are lots of tiny little hairs. Each hair also splits into even finer little hairs. These structures allow us to cling to the wall.”
Dot’s eyes widened as she listened, “Wow! It’s like there are so many little suction cups!”
Mom smiled and said, “You’re right. But you have to remember one more thing, our tails are important too ……”
Two, here comes danger!
Just as Mom was talking, a big fancy cat suddenly jumped out of the bushes! It lunged at Dot with open teeth and claws.
Mom immediately took Dot into a crack in the wall, but Dot’s tail was still scratched by the cat.
“Ouch!” Dot felt a pain in her tail, and when she looked back, oh my God, the whole tail had broken off by itself!
The broken tail twisted on the ground as if it was still moving. This attracted the attention of the flower cat.
While the cat was attracted to the broken tail, Mom rushed to take Dot to a safe place.
Dot looked at his bare bottom and was so frightened that he was about to cry, “Mommy, my tail is gone!”
Mom comforted him, “Don’t worry, this is one of our abilities. When we are in danger, our tail automatically breaks off to distract the enemy and help us escape.
Dot asked in a small voice, “Can I still grow a new tail?”
Mom nodded, “Of course you can! Our tails have the ability to regenerate. It will grow back after a while. But until then, you must be careful. Because the tail not only helps us keep our balance, it also stores energy.”
Dot looked down at the place where the tail had broken off, and it was already starting to scab over. He was secretly determined to be more careful until his new tail grew back.
III. A day without a tail
The next night, Dot practiced catching food on the wall by herself. Without his tail, his body was out of balance and he staggered as he walked.
A mosquito flew in front of him and Dot pounced, only to fall straight to the ground without stopping.
“Ouch!” Dot rubbed his knee, which was sore from the fall.
Just then, a small voice said, “Do you need help?”
Dot looked up and it was a little ant looking up at him.
Dot was a little embarrassed and said, “Thanks, I’m just not used to not having a tail yet.
The little ant asked curiously, “What happened to your tail?”
Dot then told him about her encounter with the flower cat last night.
After hearing this, the little ant said, “I know a place where there are lots of bugs and no flower cats. Would you like to go with me to see it?”
Dot was very happy to hear this and hastened to say yes.
Together they went to the vegetable garden behind the house. There were lots of vegetables growing there, and lots of little bugs flying around at night. The best part was that there was a net around the garden so the big fancy cat couldn’t get in.
“This place is great!” Dot said happily, “I can help you get rid of the spiders that want to eat you.”
So Dot and the little ant became good friends. Every night, Dot catches bugs in the vegetable garden to protect the little ants from the spiders; and the little ants help Dot find the place with the most bugs.
Fourth, the new tail grows slowly.
After a few days, Dot notices that her tail is growing slowly. The color of the new tail is lighter than the original, and it feels soft and jelly-like.
Dot was a little worried and asked her mom, “My new tail is so strange, is something wrong with it?”
Mom examined it and said with a smile, “It’s fine. The new tail is cartilage at first and will slowly harden later. The color will also darken, but it will probably never be exactly like the original.”
Another two weeks passed, and Dot’s new tail was mostly grown.
One night, Dot was patrolling the vegetable garden fence when he suddenly heard a “buzzing” sound. He followed the sound and found a bee caught in a spider web, struggling desperately.
To make matters worse, a large spider is slowly crawling out of the other end of the web!
Dot immediately rushes to the bee’s rescue, but the web is so sticky that his feet get stuck as soon as he touches it.
At this critical moment, Dot remembers what his mother said – the tail can store energy.
He concentrates and feels a force emanating from his tail. He fought hard and finally got rid of the web. Then he swung his tail hard at the big spider and chased it away.
“Thanks for saving me!” The little bee said gratefully, “I’m a worker bee from the hive, can you send me back? My wings got caught in the web.”
Dot nodded and let the little bee gently climb onto his back. He knew every path in the vegetable garden and soon found the hive.
When the queen bee heard that Dot had saved her baby, she was touched: “Thank you, brave little gecko. From now on, you and your family will always be friends of us bees. You can always come and eat the nectar from this vegetable garden.
And just like that, Dot not only had an ant friend, but a bee friend as well. His new tail was also fully grown, and although it was a little lighter than before, he thought it was very special – a symbol of his bravery!
V. Dot grows up
By the end of the summer, Dot had outgrown his mother.
One night he was teaching his younger siblings the art of catching bugs.
“Remember, we have special little hairs on the bottom of our feet so we can climb up walls. Also, our tails are very important …… when we are in danger, we can break them off and use them to confuse our enemies.”
Before the words were finished, the familiar flower cat appeared again!
This time, Dot was not afraid at all. He stood in front of his siblings, blocking the Flower Cat’s view.
When the cat pounced on him, Dot deftly dodged and flicked his tail to keep his balance, and in a few clicks he climbed to a high place where the cat could not reach him.
As he watched the cat walk away disappointed, Dot said to his siblings, “See, this is our gecko’s super power!”
Six: The Real Super Power
From that day on, the story of “Super Tail Dot Dot Dot” spread throughout the gecko family.
Dot knew that he was not only called a hero because he could escape with a broken tail, or because his tail could regenerate. Most importantly, he has a brave heart and is willing to help others.
A true superpower is not an innate physical ability, but a spirit that doesn’t flinch in the face of adversity and is willing to lend a helping hand.
Summary: The Meaning of Growing Up
Dot’s story tells us:
- When in danger, stay calm and think of ways to get out;
- Helping others is helping yourself;
- Growing up means becoming stronger, not only physically, but also inside.
We hope that every child can be as brave, kind and helpful as Dot and become a “superhero” in everyone’s heart!
