Ladybird

I’m not quite sure how I came to be here.

One moment I was on an adventure, the next I found myself in the bathtub of a white sterile room. All glass, mirrors and tiled floors.

I planned to make my escape out the window, but someone entered the room. I froze. Hoping that if I didn’t move, I wouldn’t be seen.

It appeared to have worked. My presence had gone un-noticed.  

Suddenly the taps turned on and water started filling tub. I was trapped. Paralysed with fear, I realised if I didn’t get out I was going to drown.

The water level was rising fast. I made an attempt to climb out, but slipped on the edge and slid back down. I was pulled under the surface, struggling to breathe.

Consciousness left me as I succumbed to the darkness. This is where I was going to die….

***

I opened my eyes, to find myself in a white sterile room. A warm breeze gently blowing through the open window.

To my horror, I realised it was still the same room. Only I wasn’t in the bathtub anymore, and the water was gone. I’d been laid out on a white sheet.

Was this a dream?

My lungs ached from all the water I had swallowed while drowning. I was too exhausted to move. So I just laid here.

I was alone for what felt like an eternity. Days went by as I drifted in and out of consciousness and I lost track of time. People walked in and out of the room. They checked me over and poked and prodded me. Then they’d leave again.

There was no hope left of me returning home alive. A woman entered the room, interrupting my thoughts.

She looked me over, assessing my condition. I wondered what she was going to do to me.

Suddenly, the lady picked up the four corners of the white sheet I was laying on, wrapped it around me, and transported me out of the room. We travelled silently through a dimly lit corridor and made a right turn into another room.

Bright light hit my eyes as we exited the building and went down a flight of stairs, into what looked like a garden. She was going to bury me alive, I thought.

The woman bent down and lowered me into the long grass, removing the sheet from underneath me.

Then it dawned on me. I knew this place. It was familiar to me. The lady stood up and watched me for a moment.

I hesitated at her movement. Then cautiously made my way through the grass. It smelled like home. Because it was.

The woman wasn’t trying to kill me, she was trying to save me.  And now she had returned me safely home. I would live to see another day.

***

A solitary ladybird climbed the stem of a daisy flower, spread its wings and flew away.

By Jess Munro