DRAGONFLY
Once, in a little pond, in the muddy water
under the lily pads, there lived a little water beetle in a community of water
beetles. They lived a simple and comfortable life in the pond
With few disturbances and interruptions. Once
in a while, sadness would come to the community when one of their fellow
beetles would climb the stem of a lily pad and would never be seen again. They
knew when this happened; their friend was dead, gone forever.
Then, one day, one little water beetle felt an
irresistible urge to climb up that stem. However, he was determined that he
would not leave forever. He would come back and tell his friends what he had
found at the top. When he reached the top and climbed out of the water onto the
surface of the lily pad, he was so tired, and the sun felt so warm, that he
decided he must take a nap. As he slept, his body changed and when he woke up,
he had turned into a beautiful blue-tailed dragonfly with broad wings and a
slender body designed for flying.
So, fly he did! And, as he soared he saw the
beauty of a whole new world and a far superior way of life to what he had never
known existed. Then he remembered his beetle friends and how they were thinking
by now he was dead. He wanted to go back to tell them, and explain to them that
he was now more alive than he had ever been before. His life had been fulfilled
rather than ended. But, his new body would not go down into the water. He could
not get back to tell his friends the good news. Then he understood that their
time would come, when they, too, would know what he now knew. So, he raised his
wings and flew off into his joyous new life.