The Dragonfly Story
Down below the surface of a quiet pond
lived a little colony of
water bugs. They were a happy colony, living far away from
the sun. For many months, they were very busy, scurrying
over the soft mud on the bottom of the pond. They did notice that
every once in awhile one of their colony seemed to lose
interest in going about. Clinging to the stem of a pond lily it
gradually moved out of sight and was seen no more.
"Look!" said one of the water
bugs to another. "one of our colony is
climbing up the lily stalk. Where do you think she is
going?"
Up, up, up it slowly went... Even as they watched, the water
bug disappeared from sight. It's friends waited and waited but
she didn't return. "That's funny!" said one water bug
to another.
"Wasn't she happy here?" asked a second. "Where do
you suppose
she went?" wondered a third. No one had an answer. They were
greatly puzzled. Finally one of the water bugs, a leader of the
colony,
gathered its friends together. "I have an idea. The next one
of us who climbs up the lily stalk must promise to come back
and tell us where he or she went and why." "We
promise", they
said solemnly.
One spring day, not long after, the very
water bug who had
suggested the plan found himself climbing up the lily stalk. Up,
up, up, he
went. Before he knew what was happening, he had broken through
the surface of the water and fallen onto the broad, green lily
pad above. When he awoke, he looked about with surprise.
He couldn't believe what he saw. A startling change had
come to his old body. His movement revealed four silver
wings and a long tail. Even as he struggled, he felt an impulse
to
move his wings. The warmth of the sun soon dried the moisture
from the new body. He moved his wings again and suddenly
found himself up above the water. He had become a dragonfly!
Swooping and dipping in great curves, he
flew through the air.
He felt exhilarated in the new atmosphere. By and by the
new dragonfly lighted happily on a lily pad to rest. Then it was
that he chanced to look below to the bottom of the pond. Why, he
was right above his old friends, the water bugs! There they were
scurrying around, just as he had been doing some time before.
The dragonfly remembered the promise:
"The next one of us
who climbs up the lily stalk will come back and tell where he or
she
went and why." Without thinking, the dragonfly darted down.
Suddenly he hit the surface of the water and bounced away.
Now that he was a dragonfly, he could no longer go into the
water.
"I can't return!" he said in
dismay. "At least I tried. But I can't keep
my promise. Even if I could go back, not one of the water bugs
would know me in my new body. I guess I'll just have to
wait until they become dragonflies too. Then they'll understand
what has happened to me, and where I went."
And the dragonfly winged off happily into
its wonderful new world
of sun and air...
Thank you God, for the story of the water
bugs and the
dragonflies.
This Midi is: "Love is a Many Splendored Thing"
I dedicate this page in memory of:
Corey Jonathan Riester
October 20, 1977~~~July 22, 2000
(I thank his mother, Donna... for sharing
this beautiful
story with me. It is a way of explaining death to our young
children when our families experience this great heartache.)
With love, Cuppy
You've earned Angel Wings... Corey!
