Obituary

The head of Brooklyn’s caterpillar-toddler relations succumbed after a brief encounter with soapy water.*
“Julie,” so named because of the strong, immediate emotional bond, was of an unknown age, possibly 2 days, judging by her initial fuzziness. She was a friend to all and shone with a bright, personable nature.
She asked to be set adrift in the toilet bowl.

*There is, of course, an irony in this. Greek tragedy-type irony. Madeleine feared that Conrad was too rough with “Julie,” so she emptied a cup of its home-made soap-bubble mixture and made Coco put the caterpillar in it. But the cup wasn’t rinsed and the remaining soap was too much for “Julie” (I’m guessing: could it have dried her out?) who curled up and stopped moving, laying there with her 12 or so legs in the air and a couple of tiny bubbles on her “waist.”