Lacie's Garden

One day on her way home from school, Lacie the ladybug saw a group of other ladybugs playing at the playground. She also saw a little grasshopper sitting all by himself under a dandelion nearby. He looked very sad, and Lacie wondered why. “Hi. I’m Lacie. What’s your name?” The little grasshopper sniffled and replied, “I’m Greg.” “Why are you sitting here all by yourself?” Lacie asked. “Why aren’t you playing with those ladybugs?” Before Greg could answer, one of the ladybugs in the group yelled to Lacie, “You can play with us, but he can’t!” Lacie felt bad for Greg and asked, “Why won’t you let him play with you?” Another of the ladybugs in the group replied, “We are ladybugs and we don’t play with grasshoppers! If he wants to play, he should find some grasshoppers to play with!” Lacie didn’t understand. Greg seemed like a very nice grasshopper. “Well, Greg is different than you, but that's no reason to be mean and not allow him to play with you!” Lacie liked all bugs and loved making new friends, so she invited Greg to come play with her. “My mommy and I have planted a beautiful garden, and I’d love to show you. Won’t you come see the beautiful flowers? Won’t you come dance in my garden?” Greg happily accepted the invitation, and Lacie and Greg walked hand in hand toward Lacie’s house.

Along the way, they saw a group of butterflies. There were four small butterflies and one large butterfly. The large butterfly seemed very upset. She looked as though she had been crying. Lacie and Greg went over to see what was the matter. “Hi. I’m Lacie, and this is Greg. What’s your name?” asked Lacie. The large butterfly wiped a tear away and replied, “I’m Bella.” “What’s the matter?” asked Lacie. “Why are you sad?” asked Greg. “Because they don’t like me. They tease me because I’m bigger than them, and they don’t want to be my friends.” Lacie felt very sad for Bella the butterfly. She couldn't understand why anyone wouldn't want to be friends with Bella. She was a very beautiful butterfly and very nice. “What’s the matter with all of you? Don’t you see that you’ve made Bella sad?” One of the small butterflies laughed and said, “She’s too big to play with us! She should find other big butterflies to play with!” Lacie was sure that Bella would be a great friend, so invited her to come to the garden too. “My mommy and I have planted a beautiful garden, and I’d love to show you. Won’t you come see the beautiful flowers? Won’t you come dance in my garden?” Bella looked up and smiled and happily accepted the invitation. The three new friends joined hands and skipped along together toward Lacie’s house.

It wasn’t long before they saw a very sad little potato bug coming toward them. Lacie, Greg and Bella stopped the little potato bug to see what was the matter. “Hello. I'm Lacie, and these are my friends Greg and Bella. What’s your name?” The little potato bug quietly answered, “I’m Paul.” Lacie could tell that Paul the potato bug was very upset. “What’s the matter, Paul? Why are you sad?” Holding back tears, Paul said, “Well, I was just over there playing with those other potato bugs when one of them said that he doesn’t like ants. Then they all started saying really mean things about ants. I told them to stop but they wouldn't. My little sister Amber is an ant. My mommy and daddy adopted her and I love her very much. She’s just little, and it makes me sad that those bugs don’t like her just because she isn’t like them.” Lacie knew that no bug, ladybug, grasshopper, butterfly, potato bug, or ant, is better than any other. She understood why Paul was so upset and she wanted to help make him feel better, so she asked Paul if he’d like to join her and her new friends, Greg and Bella, in the garden. “My mommy and I have planted a garden, and I’d love to show you. Won’t you come see the beautiful flowers? Won’t you come dance in my garden?” Greg suggested that they bring Paul’s little sister Amber the ant along as well.

The five new friends walked hand in hand to Lacie’s garden. There were so many different flowers in Lacie’s garden. There were daffodils, daisies, roses, pansies, and tulips of all colors. All of Lacie’s new friends were amazed. “I’ve never seen such a beautiful garden before,” said Greg the grasshopper. “Neither have I,” said Bella the butterfly. For a long time, Paul the potato bug didn’t say a word. He just stood there staring at the garden. Then a big smile came upon his face and he exclaimed, “It’s the most beautiful thing I have ever seen!” Paul could see that each flower in Lacie’s garden was different and beautiful on its own but that when they were brought together their beauty was unmatched.

The five new friends had a lot of fun dancing and playing together in the colorful garden. Soon they had an audience. Standing at the edge of Lacie’s garden were the potato bugs that had upset Paul, the butterflies that were being mean to Bella, and the ladybugs that wouldn’t let Greg play with them. One of the potato bugs stepped closer and asked, “May we play in your beautiful garden too?” Lacie remembered how mean they had all been to her new friends before. She thought for a just moment, and then she said…

“Of course you may! Everyone is welcome! Come see the beautiful flowers! Come dance in my garden!” Lacie knew that if those bugs had just taken the time to get to know her new friends they would have seen, as she had, how special each of them is.

All of the different bugs had fun playing and dancing together the rest of the afternoon, and when it was time to go home Lacie said, “Good-bye friends. Thank you all for coming to see my beautiful garden. Please come again tomorrow and we can all dance and play together again.” And they did.