Dragonfly

The first time the Leopard saw a dragonfly was when I was about 7 years old.  I'm a city kid, but in the summer my family and I would go visit relatives down south. My grandmother used to take us fishing in a small pond. I remember hot, humid summers sitting in silence by her side, waiting for a bite as mosquitoes buzzed around us.

One day a huge insect that looked to me like a tiny helicopter hovering just a few inches above the water rushed toward me like a torpedo. It shot right past my ear. I was horrified! I grabbed onto one  of grandma's large, ample arms and cried out. It seemed to swing around the pond and come back towards us, making a terrible zzzzz sound as it swept past. I had never seen an insect that big and I screamed, holding her tighter. Grandma said, "Aww baby, they ain't gonna hurt you. They eat the mosquitos. They helpin' us."

After that, I fell in love with dragonflies. They may be my favorite insect. Streamlined and beautiful, they may be one of nature's most perfect creations.