Ms Ladybug and Mr Honeybee by Pauline Panagiotou-Schneider & Guy R McPherson

Author:Pauline Panagiotou-Schneider & Guy R McPherson
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Tags: Survival Stories
ISBN: 9781682297001
Publisher: America Star Books
Published: 2015-07-28T04:00:00+00:00

GROGGY BEGINNINGS

The fireflies were gathering to leave for their second day of travel when Mr. Honeybee and Ms. Ladybug arrived back at the camp. Within minutes, the unlikely ensemble took flight.

Rumors among the fireflies had them arriving at their destination tomorrow. They could hardly wait. Their anticipation was nearly palpable enough to overwhelm their exhaustion. Nearly, but not quite.

The night was much like the one before. They worked hard to cover a long distance, taking little time to rest and none to eat. The fireflies were steady travelers, communicating very little as they flew in tight formation at a modest speed. They had a hive mind that kept them together, moving like a single organism, riding the evening winds, dodging the cross-breezes. Mr. Honeybee and Ms. Ladybug again struggled to keep up, and again collapsed into fitful sleep upon arrival at the day’s destination. They were poorly suited for nocturnal lives.

Again they groggily arose before sunrise. Again the fireflies were sleeping comfortably.

Ms. Ladybug looked at Mr. Honeybee and asked, “How do they do that?”

“It must be something they’re drinking,” replied Mr. Honeybee with a smile.

“Well, we’ll need to get some of that,” said Ms. Ladybug.

“Whatever that is, I need to get some ASAP!” jibed Mr. Honeybee and began to search for food with Ms. Ladybug staying nearby.

After a while Mr. Honeybee’s tone became serious. “What do you think about this trip, Ms. Ladybug? Are we chasing false hope?”

Ms. Ladybug took a few seconds to respond and, when she did, her voice was quiet but resolute. “I don’t think there’s any other kind, Mr. Honeybee. I think all hope is misguided.”

Mr. Honeybee responded with surprise. “What? I’ve never heard that before. I thought hope was part of keeping a positive outlook.”

Ms. Ladybug again let a few seconds pass before responding. “I’m unconvinced a positive outlook is any kind of solution. I think hope and wishful thinking are the same things. I think they’ve been pushed upon us by culture, much as ‘thinking positive’ has been pushed upon us. I no longer have ‘faith’ in these terms.”

“But we can’t give up hope,” pleaded Mr. Honeybee.

“Why not? What’s so great about hope? What’s so great about wishful thinking? What’s so great about keeping a positive attitude? Why don’t we embrace reality instead?”

Mr. Honeybee was dumbstruck. Sitting in a crevice in an old elm tree, he muttered to himself as he tried to incorporate Ms. Ladybug’s reasonable perspective with an entire life of cultural indoctrination. It wasn’t going well, as Ms. Ladybug could tell from the muttering and body language.

“I mean,” Ms. Ladybug said, “I don’t understand the point of hoping, despite what we’ve been told over and over again. I’m all for wishing upon stars, but I’m no longer convinced the wishing will solve anything. In fact,” she said, reflecting upon the idea for the first time, “I suspect believing in hope is making matters worse, not better.”

“How could that be? How could hoping hurt?”

“By depending on that hope,” said Ms. Ladybug. “Believing in hope is analogous to believing in fairy tales and magic.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.