The First Ladybug Spots — Under the tall tulips, where stems rubbed together with a squeak-squeak sound, Wenna carried a plain red shell and one small wish: she wanted the buzzing patrol to see her from above. Read the full story →
Under the tall tulips, where stems rubbed together with a squeak-squeak sound, Wenna carried a plain red shell and one small wish: she wanted the buzzing patrol to see her from above. Every morning the bees missed her in the leaf shadows. “Too green down here,” she whispered, though her knees tickled against the fuzzy stems.
A breeze flipped the tulip leaf she was hiding under. There, where nobody had thought to look, clung seven round pollen buttons, black as damp seeds and smelling like peppery sunshine. Wenna’s feet trembled. Taking things from a tulip felt enormous. Still, she pressed one button to her shell, then another, while a bee hovered close enough for its wings to hum in her ears.
“There you are!” called the bee. The buttons stuck fast, bright against red, and every bee in the tulip maze could spot Wenna after that. So, ever since, ladybugs carry dots on their backs—little hidden buttons from the first brave leaf-flip under the tall tulips. Next time you see one resting low, check whether she looks ready to be found.
