The ladybird was swimming desperately as I scooped it out, feeling that little rush of warmth at having rescued the tiny creature from a watery death. It wasn’t happy, but I placed it on the side of the sink to dry out while I soaked. I would take it outside when I was clad in something more decorous than a towel.
From my supine position in the steam, I could see it begin to move, flexing its legs and shifting on the slippery surface; a tiny splash of colour against the porcelain. I like ladybirds. As a child, they always fascinated me and I was almost offended when I read that they could bite. Surely… they wouldn’t?
They are called ladybirds, apparently, for the Virgin Mary, who was often shown cloaked in red in the early paintings. The seven spots of one of the commonest types were said to symbolise her joys and her sorrows. There is an older association, with the Norse goddess, Freya too; it is said the ladybird came to earth riding a bolt of lightning There is a lot of old lore about them… as predictors of weather, for instance. It would rain if one fell into your hand. It is true they do not fly when the world is chilled.
Continue reading at The Silent Eye
Sue Vincent's Daily Echo 
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Missed it very much last year (2020) because, with the pandemic, we weren’t allowed to use the outdoor pool much.
My job when I go in, in the late afternoons when the water is as warm as it will be for the day, but the sun is going down behind our building to the west (so we don’t bother with sunscreen), is to rescue the confused bumblebees (and an occasional wasp) who are drowning in the big pool of salty water they didn’t expect. And to avoid getting accidentally stung.
It is my exercise: I wander about looking for the ripples in the water that indicate a little struggler, and get it out of the pool and to where it can dry its tiny wings. Some make it – seem more annoyed than hurt – and fly off when ready. As I say of a moth struggling that way in my debut novel, “They have such brief lives.” One of my favorite scenes. People show you who they are by what they do.
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I agree, Alicia…and it can be very revealing…
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I’m sending you the scene because you might enjoy it! I hope the spacing works – WordPress doesn’t help sometimes.
…Her head turned abruptly and she stooped back down.
He followed the direction of her gaze: in the little pool a moth struggled, rippling the surface and scattering bits of light.
“Wait! It’s still alive.” She scooped it out. “Rats. It’s plastered to my finger.”
“Ye’re afraid of moths?” He reached over to brush it off.
“Don’t! Its wings’ll shred like wet tissue paper.” She examined the moth closely. She brought it to her lips and blew a soft steady air stream.
“What in heaven’s name are ye doing?” Was she trying to blow it off?
“Evaporating the water.” She returned to blowing.
Of course.
She held the moth up. “See? His antennae are coming unstuck. Drat! I don’t know if I can get him off in one piece.”
Not yer usual entertainment? “Need help?”
“If I try too soon I’ll rip his wing right off.” She used the tip of her nail to raise the edge of the wing. “It’s drying.” She sounded satisfied. She lifted the opposite wing’s edge, blew, made a frustrated humph. “My damned nails are too short. Do you have a key—anything sharp?”
He brought out his Swiss Army knife, unfolded a blade.
“Perfect!” She blew, alternated with freeing the wings with a jeweler’s precision, until all four quivered in the gentle breeze. “Look. He left moth dust on my finger.” The minuscule scales refracted the sunlight. “Hope he doesn’t need all his dust to fly. Oops, wait a minute, little fellow!” A bit of wind bore the insect aloft; it fluttered awkwardly to the ground.
“Good job. He can fly.” She’d rescue baby wildlife for her kids. Like the bunny he stole from his Sheltie. Hopeless. Mostly they died anyway.
“Not quite. That right front wing is kinked. He’s flying lopsided.” She coaxed the moth onto her finger. “Just a second, little guy.” With the blade tip, she positioned the front wing over the back one at the wing notch. She showed him the moth. “See how the front wings fold over the back wings when he’s at rest?”
He kept a straight face while he inspected it. “It’s a moth, Kary.”
“I know. They have such brief lives, it’s a shame to cut them short. And they don’t eat humans.” She scooted the now-reluctant moth onto a leaf. A gust got the moth airborne again; it flitted to a low-hanging branch to perch, glittery wings fluttering in a spot of sun. “Stay away from water, you hear?” She handed him his knife back. “Thank you. It has now saved a life.”
Did she really care that much? “It’s only a moth, Kary.”
“Makes up for all the mosquitoes I’ve slaughtered,” she said sensibly.
“Ye know, ye just performed mouth-to-moth resuscitation.”
“Aargh! You’re absolutely awful. I rescind my invitation.” She stood, shouldered the pack. “Come on, you need to get going.” He followed her down the mountain…
Ehrhardt, Alicia Butcher. PRIDE’S CHILDREN: PURGATORY (Book 1 of the Trilogy) . Trilka Press. Kindle Edition.
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Thanks Alicia. It is never ‘only’ a moth…
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With us, everything that happens get rolled back into the fiction some day when we need a small, real detail.
That’s our job as writers of fiction: to illustrate the truth with gentle fibs, to show the ‘never’ part.
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I seldom write fiction…
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You have written an awful lot of other things – an impressive collection.
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And still writing…
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Such a big part of you – and the world you’ve created.
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I would not have it any other way…
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I write. I handle all kinds of things that way; plus, I get a record.
I don’t know how other people manage without writing! They do, but they have far better memory than I have. Things I’ve written down come back so clearly – others I haven’t only if specifically triggered, usually by accident (ask the husband, who has been the recipient of thousands of odd little stories).
Ditto with jokes. Ask me for one, and I choke. But in the right circumstances, one will trigger – and I have to get it our right away or it will disappear.
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Writing is perfect for memories…
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I had all our home movies digitized – gave them to the kids for Christmas – but I need to view them and annotate them. Otherwise they won’t know what half of the contents are.
It’s a slow writing job.
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❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
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