Lady Bug

Lady Bug by Scott Spence

School was supposed to be fun; but this assignment was hard for me. I carried around this old shoe box trying to find bugs to put into my bug collection for my fifth grade class assignment. So far, a dead roach, a dead fly, a worm and a dead spider were the only things placed in the box. Slowly walking up to the steps at our house, the neighbor, Mr. Kellum asked me what I was up to. Mr. Kellum was a retired elementary teacher and was always interested in my school projects. His wife had died a couple of years ago; so sad. He was kind of a grandfather figure to me; always looking out for my safety.

After showing him the contents of the box, he just looked at me. "Well, Julie, you know a worm is not an insect and the spider is an arachnid, meaning it has eight legs. The roach and the fly carry a lot of germs." he said. "Let's go for a walk around the neighborhood to see if we can do this the right way."

I didn't know it at the time, but he felt sorry that my mother was never very interested in me or housekeeping.

"Stay here on the porch while I get us a couple of jars to carry," he said.

It was a perfect day for adventure; a slight breeze rustled through trees and the sun was bright and inviting. Walking with him, we went to a garden area at the side of his house. We spotted a little yellow beetle with black spots and I snatched it off the leaf of the flowering plant.

"Good job", he said. "That is a cucumber beetle." Quickly placing it into my jar and tightening the lid; looking for our next find. Next, we spotted a shiny black beetle and then a beautiful shiny iridescent green one. Mr. Kellum spotted a praying mantis and put it into his jar to keep it away from the other insects. We walked toward the small creek that ran behind the houses. I spotted a dead yellow jacket, a grasshopper and a golden-hued June bug. A wood moth and a dragonfly were collected. He wanted to get out of the tall grass so we started back toward his house.

We walked up to a small hole in the ground near a large oak tree and Mr. Kellum told me to start digging the hole out very carefully. To my surprise, about two inches down a large rhinoceros beetle emerged; it was amazing with a large horn on top of its head. Quickly, I scooped the giant beetle up and placed it into my jar. When we got back to the porch, I noticed a small red bug on my pants leg. Excited, I placed the little bug into the palm of my hand.

Mr. Kellum said," That is a Lady bug. We don't want to harm that one. You can make a wish on it and then let it go. Be sure to not tell me what the wish is, though, or it cancels out the wish." I closed my eyes, made my wish and then gently blew the little bug out of my hand.

"I'll be right back." He said. I was watching the bugs crawling around in their jars; excited over the success we had in collecting them. He then brought out a glass of water to help cool me down. Some cotton balls and a bottle of alcohol were also sat down. He soaked the cotton balls in the alcohol and placed a couple in each jar. We would wait for the bugs to go to sleep. He had also brought out a large empty cigar box to replace my old shoe one.

"This is what we will put your collection in." he said. "I will cut some Styrofoam to fit into it and then we will mount your insects, o.k.?" Bringing out an old typewriter, he would have me type out the name of each insect. After typing out the names, I carefully cut out the label for each. Taking each dead insect out carefully and placing them in front of us. Putting a straight pin through each body, he helped my place each one into the Styrofoam, leaving spaces between them for the labels. My favorite was the rhinoceros beetle and placed it right in the center. Closing the lid to the box when they were all mounted, I turned to him and said,"Thank you so much Mr. Kellum; it is beautiful." running home so proud of my collection.

The next day, after school, I sprinted to Mr. Kellum's house to tell him that I had made the highest grade in my class on the collection because of his help. From then on, he always called me Lady Bug instead of Julie. He did so until my mom and I moved away later that year; never seeing him again.

It has been several years now; returning to my old elementary school with my young daughter to show her where I had gone to school. To my surprise, the insect collection that Mr. Kellum had helped me with was still on display in one of the glass cases. My little girl was so happy to share that moment with her. Walking outside after our visit, a small bright red Lady bug flew onto her sleeve; she picked it up and showed it to me.

"Make a wish and then let it go," I said;"but don't tell me what the wish is." She closed her eyes, turned towards me and gave a big smile. Gently blowing on her hand, the little bug flew away.

My daughter said,"What did you wish for when you were little?"

Hugging her I whispered,"That someday I would be able to share the story of the Lady bug with someone special to me, too,"

She just giggled and we walked away from the school. It had been a special day for both of us.