The Curious Ladybug

Once upon a time, a cheerful ladybug was in the park hopping from one flower to another and enjoying the nice sunny day. The ladybug was a very curious, and liked to check out anything new.

The ladybug flew across the road to look at the row of homes across from the park. Each home had a little yard with plenty of flowers. Her favorite flowers were the red roses and so she went to the yard that had the most. "Mmmmmm" she went as she started munching. "Such beautiful and delicious roses" she thought.

While she was enjoying herself and hopping from on red rose to another, she noticed the front door opening and a man leaving the house. He left the door cracked open as he gathered his things, so the ladybug flew in. On her way in she almost bumped into a woman who was heading out. The woman walked out the door and slammed it shut. Oops, the ladybug was stuck inside!

The ladybug didn't care at first. She wanted to look around and explore. She flew into the bedroom, it was tidy and nice. She then flew to the bathroom and found it very boring so she left right away. Then she flew into the kitchen where she nibbled on some crumbs she found on the table. She also licked a spot of maple syrup she found on the table.

Now that the ladybug had seen everything she was ready to leave. But how could she when all the doors and windows were closed. So the ladybug decided to wait until the people came home so that she could fly out the crack again as they came in.

She waited, and waited until she got tired of waiting and got hungry too. She decided to fly back to the kitchen to take another lick of the maple syrup on the table. "Yum" she thought as she slurped up some maple syrup, "Mmmm". But just then the man and woman came home and shut the door behind them. The ladybug had missed her chance.

She would have to try again the next day, she though as she hid under the lampshade in the living room, right next to the door. The man and woman went to bed and the ladybug fell asleep under the lampshade. She was so tired and it had been a long day. She was sleeping very deeply, having lovely ladybug dreams, when she heard the door opening and closing. "What happened?" she thought, " How could I have missed them again?" It seems she was so tired that she didn't even hear them wake up, get dressed, and head out to work.

"Why do they have to leave for work so early?" thought the ladybug. "Now I'll probably never make it out" then she flew off to the kitchen to eat some more of the left over crumbs that she found. She found some muffin crumbs that tasted very good and was lucky enough to find a small drop of orange juice that she licked up happily. "That was a really great breakfast" she said to herself, "but now I need to concentrate on finding out how to get out of this place and get back home. My family must be worried about me by now."

She looked around everywhere. She was hoping there was a cracked window or a hole in the wall, but she couldn't find any. She tried to squeeze under the door, but there just wasn't enough room. She just had to wait….again!

This time she would not go to the kitchen, she would not rest or sleep either. She would just wait…and she did, for a long, long time. But the man and his wife did not go back home right away after work. Instead they decided to go out for dinner, and they stayed out late. The ladybug waited till it was very dark and she was so tired. She gave up on them coming back and fell asleep.

At about midnight the couple came back home. The ladybug woke up on the door slamming shut and saw the man and the woman walking in. Then she waited until they went to bed and fell asleep.

The ladybug decided not to wait until the morning to do something. She did not want to fall asleep again and miss them leaving in the morning. She had thought of hiding in the woman's purse, but the purse was closed shut and she was unable to get in.

Then she thought of the man's wallet, but she feared that when he put his wallet in his pants he might sit on her and squish her. She needed someplace to hide where she wouldn't be seen, but she also needed it to be something that the man or woman would take with them when they left the house.

Then she noticed the man's hat. "That would be a perfect place," she thought. "I can hide inside the hat, all the way inside. Hopefully he won't shove his hat on really hard and squish me." Then she crawled to the topmost part of the hat and waited till the morning.

In the morning the couple got dressed and went to work, but the man left his hat! The man and woman walked out but the hat stayed…with the ladybug inside! Poor ladybug.

The man had forgotten his hat and when he noticed that he did he returned to the house to get it. The ladybug was still inside it although she was just about to get out. The man took the hat and gently placed it on his head. The ladybug sighed with relief. Then she realized something. How was she going to get out from under the hat unless the man took it off? The ladybug sure wasn't ready to wait any longer. She had already waited for two days to go back to her family and she wanted to go to them now. So, the ladybug jumped on the man's bald head and started tickling him on his scalp. The man felt his head starting to tickle and took his hat off to itch it. At that very moment the ladybug was ready and she flew out to freedom. "Free at last" she cried! And then she flew back home to her very worried family.  

THE END