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!


~Author Unknown~