A Ladybug By Any Other Name

By: Luke Morris

Dedicated to Jenny and Brett Morris

What's in a name? that which we call a rose

By any other name would smell as sweet;

- Juliet, from William Shakespears Romeo and Juliet.

Once there was a ladybug named Larry. Larry was bright red with big black dots. He lived in a garden. He usually was a nice guy, but there was one thing that made him mad. That was being called a ladybug. He didn't like being called that because he was a male. He thought the males should be called gentlemanbugs.

(1)

One day, Larry flew over to his friend's house, which was made of dirt. His friend was a female ladybug named Lucy. Lucy was a very perky and friendly ladybug. When he arrived he knocked on the door. Lucy answered the door and said, "Why look, it's Larry the ladybug."

"Don't call me a ladybug!" exclaimed Larry. "I am a gentlemanbug!"

(2)

"I don't understand why you get so mad about it, it's just a name," said Lucy.

"But why are we called ladybugs?" asked Larry. "Why can't we be called gentlemanbugs?"

"Because thats just the way things are," explained Lucy.

After they finished their conversation, Larry paid a visit to the head ladybug. He shared with him what was on his mind. After listening patiently the head ladybug curtly replied, "No."

Larry cried, "Why not?"

"Because that's just the way things are," explained the head ladybug.

Larry angrily buzzed home and thought, "I wish I was a different kind of bug." Suddenly, there appeared a bright light that turned out to be the fairy godbug. It said, "I will grant you one wish, but after you make up your mind it can never be changed."

(3)

(4)

Larry thought for a second and then decided, "I want to be changed into a different kind of bug."

The fairy godbug waved her wand and then disappeared. Larry quickly went inside his dirt house and looked in the mirror.

(5)

What he saw made him very furious. The fairy godbug had turned him into a katydid. He wondered if he should go through all the trouble again, but Katydid not.

The End

(6)

Moral: A name doesn't change who you are.

(7)