🐞 Fuzz and the Ladybug

One sunny morning, Fuzz was lying in the garden with his tongue out, as usual, when something tiny and red landed right on the tip of it.

Fuzz went cross-eyed trying to see it. "Cola," he said, without moving his tongue, which made it sound like "Coyah." "Thomething ith on my tongue."

Cola trotted over and peered closely with her blue eyes. "It's a ladybug," she said. "A red one with seven black spots. Don't move. You're her landing strip."

The ladybug walked slowly along Fuzz's tongue, up his nose and between his eyes. It tickled so much that his big sideways ears wiggled. He tried very, very hard not to sneeze.

"Ladybugs are good for gardens," said Cola. "They eat the tiny bugs that nibble the plants. Gardeners love them." Fuzz felt proud. A garden helper had chosen him.

The ladybug reached the top of his head and sat between his ears, opening and closing her shiny red wing cases. Underneath were thin, see-through wings.

Then a little breeze came. The ladybug spread her wings and flew up, up, up, over the flowers, until she was just a tiny red dot in the blue sky. The birds sang as if they were saying goodbye.

Fuzz finally let out the giant sneeze he'd been holding in. "ACHOO!" His bell jingled wildly. Cola laughed so hard that she fell over in the grass. "You were a very good landing strip," she giggled.