In a small town in the South, there lived a little gecko named Jerry. He was small, only as long as a person’s thumb, and his whole body was grayish brown, but he had a pair of especially bright eyes.
Jerry lived in the corner of an old house, and every night he would climb up the wall and wait for the little bugs to fly by. His favorites were mosquitoes and moths because they were nice and crunchy.
One night, while catching bugs, Jerry asked his mom, “How come we can walk on the wall and not fall off?”
Mom stopped, raised one paw, and said, “Look at the bottom of our feet, aren’t they full of tiny hairs? Those hairs break down into even finer hairs to keep us firmly on the wall.”
Jerry’s eyes widened and he said, “Wow, is that like a lot of little suckers?”
Mom smiled and said, “That’s about right. But you have to remember one thing – our tails are important, too.”
As they were talking, a big, fancy cat suddenly jumped out of the bushes! It lunged at Jerry with all its teeth and claws!
Mom hurriedly pulled Jerry into a crack in the wall, but she was still a step too slow. The cat grabbed Jerry’s tail, and with a bang, Jerry’s tail snapped!
“Ouch!” Jerry cried out in pain, and when he looked back, his tail was actually twisting on the floor, as if it could still move.
The fancy cat was fascinated by the broken tail and stared at it curiously.
Just then, Mom took the opportunity to pull Jerry to safety.
Looking down at his bare bottom, Jerry almost cried out, “Mom, my tail is gone!”
Mom comforted him, “Don’t be afraid, this is a gecko ability. When we are in danger, our tails can automatically break off to distract our enemies and help us escape.”
Jerry whispered, “So can I grow a new tail?”
Mom nodded, “Of course you can! We have the ability to regenerate, and our tails will grow back slowly after a while. But until the new tail grows back, you must be careful. Because the tail not only helps us keep our balance, it also stores energy.”
Jerry looked down at the root of the broken tail and saw that it had already scabbed over. He secretly decided to be careful until the new tail grew.
The next night, Jerry practiced climbing walls and catching bugs by himself. Without his tail, his body became less stable and he staggered when he walked.
A mosquito flew past him and Jerry lunged, only to lose control of his direction and fall straight to the ground.
“Ouch!” Jerry said a little sadly, rubbing his knee.
Just then a small voice rang out, “Are you okay? Do you need help?”
Jerry looked up and saw that it was a small ant.
Embarrassed, he said, “Thanks, I’m just not used to not having a tail yet.
Curious, the little ant asked, “Why is your tail missing?”
So Jerry told him about his encounter with the flower cat last night.
After listening, the little ant thought for a moment and said, “I know a place where there are lots of bugs and no cats. Would you like to go with me to see it?”
Jerry was so happy to hear this that he immediately agreed.
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 most important thing was that there was a net around the vegetable garden, so the big fancy cat couldn’t get in at all.
“This place is awesome!” Jerry said happily, “I can help you get rid of the spiders that are trying to eat you.
So Jerry and the little ant became good friends. Every night, Jerry went to the vegetable garden to catch bugs and protect the little ant from the spiders; and the little ant took him to the place with the most bugs.
A few days later, Jerry noticed that a little bit of new tail was growing where his tail had been. It was a little lighter in color than the original and soft to the touch, like jelly.
He was a little concerned and asked his mom, “This tail looks weird, is something wrong with it?”
Mom examined it and said with a smile, “It’s fine. The newly grown tail is cartilage and will slowly harden later. The color will also deepen, but it will probably never be exactly like the original.”
After another two weeks, Jerry’s new tail was mostly grown.
One evening, Jerry was patrolling the vegetable garden when he 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 was slowly crawling across the other side of the web!
Jerry immediately rushed over to save the bee. But when he touched the web, his feet got stuck and he couldn’t move.
Just then, he remembered what his mother had said – the tail can store energy.
He concentrated and felt a power coming from his tail. He struggled hard and finally broke free of the web. Then he swung his newly grown tail and attacked the spider, driving it away.
“Thanks for saving me!” The little bee said gratefully, “I am a worker bee in the hive, can you send me back? My wings are caught in the web.”
Jerry nodded and let the little bee gently climb onto his back. He knew every path in the vegetable garden and soon found the hive.
The queen bee was very touched to hear that Jerry had saved her baby, “Thank you, brave little gecko. From now on, you and your family will be friends with us bees. You can always come here for nectar.”
Just like that, Jerry had not only made 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 felt it was special-because it symbolized his experience of growth and bravery.
By the end of the summer, Jerry had outgrown his mother.
One evening he was teaching his younger siblings the art of catching bugs.
He said earnestly, “Remember, we have special little hairs on the bottom of our feet so we can climb up walls. Also, our tails are important …… when we are in danger, we can break them to confuse our enemies.”
Before he could finish his sentence, the familiar flower cat appeared again!
This time, Jerry wasn’t afraid at all. He stepped in front of his siblings and faced the flower cat.
As the cat lunged at him, Jerry deftly dodged, used his tail to keep his balance, and in a few tries climbed to a high place out of the cat’s reach.
As he watched the cat walk away in disappointment, Jerry said to his siblings, “See, this is our gecko’s superpower!”
From that day on, the story of “Super Tail Jerry” spread throughout the gecko family.
Jerry knew that he was called a hero not only because he could run for his life when his tail was broken, or grow a new one. More importantly, he had a brave heart and was willing to help when others were in trouble.
The real superpower is not a natural physical ability, but the spirit of not backing down in the face of difficulty and being willing to help others.
This story teaches us several important lessons:
When in danger, we should react calmly.
Like Jerry, even when his tail was broken, he didn’t panic and tried to find a way out.
To help others is to help yourself.
Jerry saves the bee, and later the bee invites him to the nectar, and everyone benefits.
Growing is not just a physical change, it’s an inner maturity.
Jerry has grown from a tiny gecko to a big gecko who can protect his family, and he has become stronger inside.
We hope that every child can be as brave, kind and helpful as Jerry and become a “superhero” in everyone’s heart.
