The little Dragonfly!

The young girl liked watching her daisies. She couldn’t walk and was stuck in her wheelchair. So she enjoyed the company of the flowers. She had grown them since they had been mere seeds. The girl had almost all days to herself. She didn’t like the games the other kids played. They all involved running, so she couldn’t join them anyway. She much preferred her flowers.

Her parents worried that she was alone. She was never alone, there was always a family of rabbits near, her tulips or the groups of butterflies next to the daisies. One day another creature caught her eye while she was sitting next to one of the flower fields, the rabbit family all cuddling against her. It was a swarm of dragonflies coming towards the flower fields. She continued to numbly pat the rabbit on her lap as she watched the four-winged creatures.

She observed, as a small dragonfly slowly joined them. The dragonfly was different, disabled as it would  seem. One of its four wings was broken. It managed to fly to its family. The family didn’t seem to care. The other dragonflies jostled to get the nectar while the poor creature continued to shake. The girl was watching, not sure what she was waiting for. Finally, the swarm retreated. The girl watched in pity as the young dragonfly, once again struggled to catch up with its swarm.

This continued for many days. The girl watched the dragonfly, every day, its wing still broken. It was the seventh day. The dragonfly continued to struggle. It was time for the dragonflies to go now. But the young one didn’t follow, it took another turn, towards the forest. The girl was curious, she pushed her wheelchair to follow the little creature.

She had never been in the forest, she watched all these small creatures – ants, new types of butterflies, in the distance, she could hear chirping. She continued the path until she found the dragonfly, laying on a piece of leaf, taking its final breath. The girl knew the little guy would die. Yet she still cried. She didn’t know why, but she cried for the little dragonfly as it stopped fighting.

She picked him up in her hands. She wondered if its family would ever look for it, she wondered if anyone would ever acknowledge its struggle. Would anyone ever care about what a mere insect faced? She wondered if she was the dragonfly? Was she also going to perish in the quest for freedom? Will she welter alone and friendless? Will she end up like this poor dragonfly, uncared for?

Dragonflies usually have a lifespan of seven to fifty days. The girl knew she would survive longer, but unlike the little dragonfly, she wouldn’t want to leave the world without making her mark.

Maybe her smile could reverberate in the hearts of her loved ones. Maybe her name could be imprinted in a few lives that mattered to her!

Adrita Bhattacharjee

Photo by Victoria Borodinova from Pexels