The Bug Campaign: Just a little respect!

Editor’s note: This is the first of eight chapters in The Daily’s original serial story. Look for it every Tuesday in the Living section.

Chapter 1

It is a beautiful summer day. Reggie is in his yard trying to figure out how to get his remote control plane to fly. He squats down, looking at the pieces he has taken off.

He doesn’t see his sister sneaking up behind him. She pokes him with a stick. He almost drops his plane and turns to glare at her. He doesn’t chase her because he does not want to step on the scattered plane parts. He yells, “Bug off!” Just at that moment, he brushes something from his arm. A green insect falls to the ground. Reggie is so annoyed with his sister that he does not see the bug. He even ignores an irritating odor. He just rubs his nose and goes back to his plane.

Meanwhile, the green creature climbs a twig. Nezara viridula is his name. He is as furious as an insect can be.

“ ‘Bug off,’ indeed,” he fumes.

“I’m tired of being called ‘bug,’ and I’m sick of being brushed off, swatted at and chased.”

He thinks, “I can’t help being an insect. Don’t I deserve some respect?”

Nezara ponders what he can do.

“Let’s see ... I don’t have a stinger or jaws that could hurt that human ... I could fly in his face, but he’d probably swat me.”

The more he thinks, the madder he gets. Then something dawns on him.

“I understood what the human said! I knew he said ‘Bug off’! I understood words!”

Just as that amazing discovery began to sink in, Nezara feels the twig move.

He realizes that the boy is standing and shaking his foot. A huge shoe casts a shadow over Nezara. He can see the zigzag pattern on the sole. It moves closer and closer.

Nezara feels paralyzed. He can’t seem to move. Will he be squashed?

Bug Chapter 1: Learning activity

Parents: (Note: If your child is able to read the story independently, modify these activities to reinforce your child’s reading skills.)

Read the chapter aloud. Ask your child to recall the encounter between Nezara and Reggie. How did each react? Ask: How do you feel when an insect lands on you? Why do you feel that way?

Now have your child use today’s newspaper to find the face of someone who looks the way he or she feels when encountering an insect. Have your child cut out the face and glue it on a piece of blank paper. Then have your child draw a body to go with the face and add an insect landing on the person. Together make up a sentence about the picture.

(Alabama Course of Study: Identifies ways that characters and events reflect real experiences. Compares and contrasts story elements and the experiences and feelings of literary characters to students’ lives.)

Click here for story index.