Tristan’s sob could be heard loud and clear through the house and garden.

“What’s wrong, Tristan?” Grandpa Jake asked, as he came to find his grandson tending to a small, bleeding cut on his knee. “Oh dear, it looks like you had a little accident.”

“It hurts real bad, Grandpa,” Tristan said, through his tears.

“Hmm,” Grandpa Jake said suddenly, “I think I just found the cause of this accident. Look at this. Your shoelaces weren’t tied, and you must have tripped over them.”

“Oh, I guess I did forget to tie them,” Tristan confessed. “I was in a race with my friend to see who would get outside the quickest, and I must have forgotten.”

“Well, it wasn’t so quick after all, because you ended up getting hurt. You know what, though? This reminds me of a story about little Drudy.”

“Drudy?” Tristan asked, as he brushed his tears aside.

“Yes, Drudy was a dragonfly who had an accident just like you did—and she learned some very good lessons through it.”

“It all happened one day when Drudy found her friends, Lincoln and Fiery…” Grandpa Jake began.

“You’ll never believe what happened to me,” Drudy panted, coming up to where her best friends were relaxing in the sun.

“Tell us, please,” Lincoln said.

“You sure look tired,” Fiery added. “You must’ve been flying for miles.”

“Not really, but I just had a scary accident. I’ll tell you all about it.”

Fiery fluttered down to perch on a dandelion leaf, while Lincoln settled himself comfortably nearby. They both were eager to hear Drudy’s tale.

“It was so warm this morning that I decided to visit my dragonfly friends at the pond,” Drudy began. “We were playing flying games. It was a lot of fun. First we’d fly up as high as we could, and then we’d dive down real fast. We were seeing who could make it to the surface of the water and catch one of the mosquitoes circling the surface of the pond without getting wet.”

“I wasn’t doing so good,” Drudy confessed. “I could fl y high, but I wasn’t able to dive as quickly as the others, so I was hardly catching any mosquitoes. I started getting frustrated because the other dragonflies were constantly winning. I got angry and wanted to prove that I could be as good as the rest of them. Plus, I didn’t want anyone to think I was scared of getting stuck in the water, or worried about my wings getting wet.

“I wasn’t being careful at all, and I went real high and decided to dive as fast as I could. I picked up so much speed when I was diving that I wasn’t able to turn and catch the mo qui to. Instead, I hit the water with a splash,” Drudy explained. “I landed so fast that I felt like everything around me was spinning. My friends hovered above me, asking if I was okay. I said I was fine, but when I tried to get out of the water I couldn’t.”

“That’s terrible!” Fiery exclaimed.

“You must have been scared,” Lincoln said. “I would’ve been.”

“At first I wasn’t scared, but then I started to get a bit worried when I realized that I couldn’t fly out. My wings were so wet and heavy; I couldn’t lift them. I was stuck.”

“Oh dear!” Lincoln said with a worried look on his face.

“What happened next?” Fiery asked curiously.

“Well, a few of my friends tried to help me out, but I was too heavy for them, too.

I thought I might be stuck in the water for a very long time and maybe even drown. My friends decided to go try and find help, so they flew away. When I was alone I felt very helpless.”

“What did you do?” Lincoln asked.

“I remembered what my mom had always told me to do if I found myself in a difficult situation: I prayed. I asked God to help my friends find some way of helping me, or that God would send someone to rescue me. I told Him that I’d be more careful next time and not get so competitive.”

“And?” Fiery interrupted.

“Just then two children were walking by the pond. They had caught a frog in their yard and were bringing it to the pond to set it free. I tried calling for help, but they didn’t see or hear me. So I prayed again, and then the little girl saw me.

“‘Cid, Cid!’ she shouted. ‘There’s a dragonfly in the water. It looks like it needs help.’

“Her brother turned around and saw me, and he gently fished me out of the water. “‘Poor little thing,’ he said. I had swallowed some water too, because I’d been in the water for quite some time. ‘Good thing you saw the drag on fl y, Sheila,’ he told his sister. ‘I don’t know how much longer it would’ve lasted in the water. Let’s put it on this leaf here so that the sun can dry its wings, and then it’ll be able to fl y again.’

“‘Yes, let’s do that,’ Sheila replied.”

“It’s so good that those kids were there when you needed them,” Fiery said.

“That must’ve been so scary, but I’m so glad that you’re alright now,” Lincoln sighed.

“Me too,” Drudy agreed. “I’m going to be a lot more careful from now on.”

“For sure,” Lincoln said, nodding in agreement.

“Hey, let’s play a game together,” Fiery offered.

The other two looked at her and smiled.

“Why not?” Drudy answered with a smile.

“Let's be extra careful,” Lincoln added.

“Also, let’s not be competitive,” Fiery concluded.

“I’m glad that I didn’t get into as much trouble as Drudy did,” Tristan said when the story had ended.

“Yes, so am I,” his grandfather said and smiled.“But it’s very important to remember that accidents often happen when we’re not careful, and also—as in Drudy’s case—if we get competitive when we play with others, and always want to win.”

“I guess I’d better tie my shoelaces, Grandpa, before I go play again,” Tristan said.

“And before you go, there’s one other thing you should remember that Drudy’s story taught us. Can you remember what?”

Tristan put his hand on his chin and thought for a moment. “To pray?”

“That’s right! Then God can protect you from getting hurt.”

Tristan and his grandfather bowed their heads and said a little prayer. Then Tristan bounded off to play with his friend. On a nearby leaf, three small insects watched him and exchanged smiles.

Moral: Ask God to give you a helping hand when you need one, and He’ll be there for you.

Art and text courtesy of Aurora Productions. Featured on www.freekidstories.org