Beneath the surface of a tranquil pond, there resided a small colony of water bugs. They were a content colony, dwelling far from the sun. For numerous months, they were quite industrious, bustling over the soft mud at the bottom of the pond. They did observe that occasionally, one of their number seemed to lose interest in their usual activities. Clinging to the stem of a pond lily, it gradually moved out of sight and was no longer seen.

“Look!” one of the water bugs said to another. “One of our colony is ascending the lily stalk. Where do you suppose she is going?”

Up, up, up it slowly ascended…

As they watched, the water bug vanished from sight. Its friends waited and waited, but it did not return…

“That’s peculiar!” one water bug remarked to another. “Wasn’t she content here?” a second inquired. “Where do you suppose she went?” a third pondered.

No one had an answer. They were greatly perplexed. Eventually, one of the water bugs, a leader in the colony, gathered its friends together.

“I have a proposal. The next one of us who ascends the lily stalk must promise to return and inform us where he or she went and why.”

“We promise,” they solemnly agreed.

One spring day, not long after, the very water bug who had proposed the plan found itself ascending the lily stalk.

Up, up, up it ascended.

Before it knew what was happening, it had broken through the surface of the water and landed on the broad, green lily pad above.

When it awoke, it looked around in surprise. It couldn’t believe what it saw. A startling transformation had occurred to its old body. Its movement revealed four silver wings and a long tail. Even as it struggled, it felt an impulse to move its wings.

The warmth of the sun soon dried the moisture from the new body. It moved its wings again and suddenly found itself above the water. It had become a dragonfly!

Swooping and dipping in grand arcs, it flew through the air. It felt exhilarated in the new atmosphere. Eventually, the new dragonfly alighted happily on a lily pad to rest. Then it happened to look down to the bottom of the pond. Why, it was right above its old friends, the water bugs! There they were - scurrying around, just as it had been doing some time before.

The dragonfly remembered the promise: the next one of us who ascends the lily stalk will return and tell where he or she went and why.

Without thinking, the dragonfly darted downwards. Suddenly, it hit the surface of the water and bounced away. Now that it was a dragonfly, it could no longer enter the water.

“I can’t return!” it exclaimed in dismay. “At least, I tried. But I can’t fulfil my promise. Even if I could go back, not one of the water bugs would recognise me in my new body. I suppose I’ll just have to wait until they too become dragonflies. Then they’ll understand what has happened to me, where I went, and why.”