The Dragonfly of Hope

Once, in a little pond, in the muddy water under the lily pads, there lived a little community of water bugs called nymphs. They lived a simple life in the pond with few disturbances and interruptions. Once in a while, sadness would come to the little community when one of their fellow nymphs would climb the stem of a lily pad and would never be seen again. They knew when this happened that their friend was dead, gone forever. One day, a little water nymph felt an irresistible urge to climb up a stem. However, she was determined that she would not leave forever. She would come back and tell her friends what she had found at the top - on the other side of the sparkling water. When she reached the top of the stem and climbed out of the water onto the surface of the lily pad, she was so tired, and the sun felt so warm, that she decided she must take a nap. As she slept, her body changed and when she awoke, she had turned into a beautiful yellow dragonfly with broad, transparent wings and a slender body designed for flying. So, fly she did! And, as she soared she saw the beauty of a whole new world. To her, this was a far superior way of life to what she had known before. Then, she remembered her nymph friends and how they must be thinking by now that she was dead. She wanted to go back to tell them, and explain to them that she was now more alive than she had ever been before! Her life had been fulfilled rather than ended! But, her new body would not go down into the water. She could not get back to tell her friends the good news. Then, she understood that the time would come, when they too, would know what she now knew. So, she raised her wings & flew off into her joyous new life!    (copied)