A Children’s Story… Inspired by True Events
One summer morning, Johnny the Ladybug decided to fly to his favorite garden, where Johnny had been a larval only two months ago. Johnny wanted to visit his 3 brothers and his 3 sisters, who all had the same 7 black spots on their bright orange wing covers. Together, they would spend the day crawling through the long rows of corn, bean, and tomato plants, looking for tasty aphids to eat.
Johnny flew towards the garden through a canopy of trees, following alongside the train tracks. He soon came to a train platform where many people were standing. Johnny stopped to rest on a tree leaf and admire the people’s brightly-colored clothes. Suddenly, he heard a terrible noise. It got louder and louder, and a wind shook the leaf where Johnny was perched. Panicked, Johnny flew towards a woman and landed on her polka-dotted skirt.
Johnny clung to the cloth within the fold of the skirt. Something was wrong. The woman was moving! Johnny peaked out from behind the skirt. They were inside of a big box filled with rows of people. There was no grass for him to rest on, or plants to find aphids. A voice boomed, “This is the express train to Boston. Next stop, Back Bay.”
Johnny waited until the skirt stopped moving, then cautiously explored his surroundings. He walked along the skirt towards a faint light. His body brushed against something warm and soft, which jerked away suddenly. “A ladybug!” a feminine voice said. “Look, Mr. P! A ladybug is on my skirt!”
Johnny felt his whole body be lifted. He was in a person’s hands! The sensation was both thrilling and scary, and he began to run. “Ladybug,” a male voice said. “In my country, we call them coccinelle.”
“It’s good luck to find a ladybug on you,” the feminine voice said. “Don’t kill it! Let’s try to keep it until we get to Boston, and set it free outside.”
Johnny panicked and took flight. He flew above the people’s heads, searching for way to get out of this big, shaking box. Soon, his wings grew tired, and he landed on the hard ground to rest. “Now arriving Back Bay,” a voice boomed. “Please take all your personal belongings with you when you exit the train. Back Bay.”
Rumbling, all around! The ground shook! Johnny began to run in confusion. He imagined that if he just ran fast enough, he would soon be back in his garden, with his 3 brother and 3 sisters, and they would spend all day in the garden searching for tasty aphids to –
CRUNCH. Johnny the Ladybug, killed by a Teva.
