Linda, the ladybird, lived in the garden. Many butterflies and birds came there. She had made friends with all of them. And she knew the squirrels and the frogs too. She had a lot of fun with her friends.
But no one knew that Linda had a secret problem. She wanted a new coat.
“My red coat with black dots is so dull,” she thought, “I wish I could be blue like the hummingbird or green like the frog or orange and gold like a butterfly! None of them are red with black dots!”
She wondered if she could wear something which would make her look fabulous. One day, she found a beautiful maple leaf. She wrapped it like a cape around her and stood in front of the mirror preening. But after a while the leaf dried up and crumbled.
She found some feathers lying in the garden once. She took them home and stuck them all over her. “That looks nice,” she decided, “but I can’t use my wings!”
The next day, that she found a little cotton flying around. She thought that would look good on the red wings. So, she stuck some fluffy white cotton on her back. But it didn’t seem to help her fly! Her wings were still stuck.
It was no use. She was just a ladybird and there was nothing she could do about it.
The next morning her friend, Sally, the snail, came to visit her. Sally had a brown shell and it had taken her a long, long time to reach Linda’s house. “Oh, how pretty you look, Linda!” was the first thing Sally said.
“Me? Pretty?” exclaimed Linda.
“Of course! Your coat suits you so well and it is so bright and glossy! I wish I too had a red shell,” said Sally.
Linda was really surprised. She had been thinking she was so ugly and there was Sally telling her how pretty she was! She gave Sally a warm smile and said, “Thank you, Sally. You are the most beautiful friend I have because you can see beauty in everything around you!”
