The Ladybug Who Wore Seven Spots

Liam found a ladybug with seven spots on its back, and every spot was a different colour.

"Oh!" said Liam. He was kneeling in the garden behind his grandmother's house. The whole garden was full of ladybugs. They sat on the beans. They sat on the mint. They sat in a long red row on the watering can.

But this one was special. It had a blue spot, a green spot, a purple spot, and four more. Liam wanted to keep an eye on it all afternoon.

"Hello, Seven Spots," he whispered. "Stay right there."

Seven Spots walked to the edge of the leaf. Then it opened its wings and went zip, off into the air.

"Wait!" said Liam.

He ran after it past the beans. He ran past the mint. He ran so fast that his sneakers went thump, thump, thump on the path. But every ladybug looked the same, and he lost the one he wanted.

Liam stood still. Red, red, red, everywhere he looked.

First he tried counting spots. That took too long, because the ladybugs kept moving. Then he tried calling, "Seven Spots! Seven Spots!" Nobody answered. A ladybug is very small, and it cannot hear much.

Liam sat down on the path to think. His grandmother came by with her basket of beans.

"I am only here for supper," she said, and she kept on picking.

Liam looked at the ground. A bit of blue sparkled in the dirt, and then a bit of green. It was a tiny trail of colour, like crumbs.

"Paint!" said Liam. He looked at the old paint pot by the fence. A ladybug had walked right through the spilled drops, and its feet were dotted with colour.

Liam followed the trail, step by step, to the sunflower. There, on the biggest leaf, sat Seven Spots, blue and green and purple.

"Found you," said Liam softly.

Seven Spots stayed right where it was. Liam held out one finger, and it climbed on. It felt like a tickle, the smallest tickle in the world.