A Sparkling Mystery

Casy stretched her tiny green body in the warm morning sun. The meadow sparkled with dewdrops on every blade of grass. She loved exploring her home near the bubbling river.

"What a perfect day for an adventure!" she said to herself.

Suddenly, something caught her eye. A flash of brilliant blue zipped past her nose, then another of shimmering green. Casy blinked her large curious eyes. The flying jewels moved too fast to see clearly.

"Wait!" she called out, but they were already gone.

More colorful streaks danced above the water—red ones, purple ones, some that looked like tiny rainbows. They darted and swooped with incredible speed.

Casy had never seen anything so beautiful and mysterious in her meadow before.

The Backwards Flyer

Casy crawled closer to the water's edge. She wanted to see the flying jewels up close.

A bright red creature landed on a lily pad right in front of her. It had four shimmering wings and huge eyes that seemed to see everything at once.

"Hello there!" Casy said cheerfully.

The creature turned its head. "Oh! A little caterpillar. I'm Ruby, a dragonfly."

"Dragonfly?" Casy had never heard that word before.

"Yes! We start our lives underwater as babies, breathing through our skin. Then we climb out and become flying dragonflies like me."

Suddenly, a sparrow swooped down toward Ruby. The dragonfly shot backwards through the air like magic, then hovered perfectly still.

"Wow! How did you do that?" Casy gasped.

"My four wings move separately," Ruby explained, demonstrating by flying in a small circle. "It lets me fly any direction I want!"

What we learned: Dragonflies start as babies underwater that breathe through their skin, then become flying adults. Adult dragonflies have four wings that move separately, letting them fly backwards and hover like helicopters.