'The Girl Who Likes Bugs'

I like to take pictures of different bugs — butterflies and ladybugs and dragonflies and even spiders. I keep the pictures in a scrapbook. I read a lot about them too, to learn what they eat and how some of them make cocoons, and how they help the garden.

Jennifer came to see what I was doing. "I just got a new video game. Want to play it with me?"

I said "OK," but I'm not very good at playing games. Every time I play with Jennifer, she wins. When we play baseball at school, I usually strike out. When we go in the swimming pool, my dives are all belly flops, no matter how hard I try to keep my feet up. Jennifer's good at baseball and swimming. She's good at skating and bike riding, and in school she gets good grades. She's good at everything. I wish I could be like her.

"This caterpillar might turn into a butterfly or a moth." I carefully picked it up to show her, holding it out on the palm of my hand. She gave a little scream and stepped back. "Ooooh! Aren't you scared of it?"

I put it back on the tree. "It won't hurt you." I knew she must be wondering how I could waste time on dumb stuff like caterpillars and bugs and spiders.

"You're really brave, Cindy." She smiled at me. "And you know a lot about such interesting things. I wish I were like you."

Kids, click here to find out about the author of this story.