One day a hawk and a lady bug were out enjoying the warm sun
    and an afternoon's flight. The sky was blue and clear. The
    Hawk circled high in the sky singing hawk song. From a distance,
    he could see lady bugs flying from plant to plant. The lady bugs
    were flying and the sun was reflecting on their brilliant metallic
    orange bodies with black spots on them.

    One Lady Bug seemed different from all the others. She looked
    like she was basking in the sun. She looked like she was
    experiencing enchantment while all others were just so busy
    being busy. This Lady Bug was listening to the music of hawk
    song.

    As hawk song became louder and louder the lady bugs flew to
    hiding, all, except one. She did not move but listened to
    hawk song and watched Hawk's descent from the blue sky until
    the sky almost seemed to be filled with him. At Hawk's landing,
    a blushing eye contact was made. There were no words immediately
    just a peaceful observation of each other.


    "Were the other lady bugs your friends," he asked? "Yes," she
    said. "Where have they gone and why did they leave you," Hawk
    asked? "They were afraid," she said. "Afraid!.. Afraid of
    what? Of me," he asked? "Yes, they are afraid of you. When
    they heard your song they feared and they took refuge," she said.


    "Are you afraid of me," he asked? "Yes, I am a little but I
    see no need to run. If you wanted to harm me, we would not be
    talking," she said. She went on to say, "it must be really
    lonely for you always flying alone and singing alone?"

    "Lady Bug, what makes you think I am lonely," he asked?

    "Because I have watched you before and listened as you sang your
    song. Sometimes I have even sang to you but I was sure you could
    not hear me," she told him.

    "It is your song that I am hearing. Your song does not sound like
    lady bug song. It sounds like hawk song I have heard before,"
    he said. "Where did you learn it," he asked?


"I can not tell you that just now but I hope the time will come
that I can tell you where I learned the song I sing. I am glad
you heard it," she said.

"You are right," he told her, "it is lonely and many are afraid
of me. They call me names that really are more suited to the
humans. They call me predator but there is no predator like
the human. Everywhere they go they kill and when they are not
killing some of us, they are killing each other. We, of the hawk
dominion, can never let our guard down because if we do for a
minute, we find them hunting us with stones that fly in the air
at great speeds and make us fall to the ground. Yes, it is lonely
and so I sing and fly and hope that someone will fly with me and
sing with me and share adventures with me."

Lady Bug told him, "I can fly with you sometime if you like, but
I can not fly as high or as fast as you. I can not even see as
far as you."

"You would fly with me? No one as beautiful as you would fly
with me," he said. "I would," she said, "I would love to fly
with you."



    As the two look deep into each other eyes, the Hawk leans down
    and Lady Bug climbs his feathers to her perch. "Hold on, Lady
    Bug. We are going to the sky," he told her.

    For hours the Hawk and the Lady Bug soar as they walk the sky.
    They sing with joy and feel excitement. Neither speaks but
    both are enraptured of the moment. Two who are very different
    in this moment do not seem different at all. Surrendered to
    the moment, love is known. The hours pass. The sun goes down.
    The moon comes up and their image is cast upon the moon as shadow.
    Neither has spoken a word when the Hawk thinks he is being selfish.
    It is all so good. Thought is suspended because of the right
    presence. It is time he must take Lady Bug home. She says to
    him, "So soon? Must you take me back so soon"?

    "I thought you might be getting tired and I did not want to seem
    so selfish, though in truth, I do not recall when I have been
    happier. I do not want to take you home at all. I would be
    pleased if this moment did not have to end. What I would really
    like to do is watch you fly, listen to you sing, listen to you
    tell me of your hopes and dreams," he said.

    "Are you sure you are a hawk," she asked? "Yes, Lady Bug, I am
    a hawk," he told her. "What will your friends say when they
    find out you spent the day with me?" he asked.


"I have known my own joy today with you. I do not care what they
say. They have not flown where you have shared with me," she
said. She went on to say, "I do not want to return but I probably
should. Will you come for me again? Do you think we could be
friends?", she asked.

"I would love that," he said. "When can I see you again?", he
asked. "How soon would you like to see me again?", she asked.
"Only moments from now. There is something I must do, but I can
come for you again in two hours," he told her.

"Come back for me then in two hours. I will be ready and meet
you right here. If you really want to be with me, show me the
gift of your kiss when you return," she said.



    "I know you need some private flight time now to think and sing,"
    she said. He said to her as he took flight, "It will be as you
    wish." And with that the Hawk took to the night sky exciting the
    wind behind him as he ascended.

    Lady Bug blushed and went to tell her friends. When she arrived
    and told them all that she had done, they reported her to their
    elders. They refused to allow her to consider seeing this dangerous
    predator again and putting their village at risk.

    As time began to run out and fearing she would leave, lady bug was
    restrained by the elder named Conventional Rule. The second
    restraining elder was the Guardian of Tradition. They bound Lady
    Bug.

    "He will come for me," she said, "he will come."

    When the Hawk returned, he did not see Lady Bug and began to wonder
    if everything was all right. After waiting and waiting, he came to
    the conclusion that she was not going to be returning to fly with
    him. He looked to the sky and said thanks for the time they had
    spent together. As he lifted again to climb the sky in a very
    slow spiral, he began to sing.

    Lady Bug could hear the Hawk's song and began to sing herself.

    This time the Hawk knew it was her. He could hear her song. He
    landed in her village and called for her. In fear of destruction,
    the elders of Convention and Tradition offered Lady Bug to the
    Hawk if he would agree not to destroy their village.

    In a loud voice, he said, "NO. I have made a friend today and
    I will not allow you to shame her like this. I have learned
    today that you have lived in fear of me. You fear what you do
    not know," he said.


    Hawk continues, "who among you recalls how many times I have
    ever sought to harm any of your families and tribes. Your
    fears are unfounded and yet I know, most fear what they do not
    know. If we could talk, you might discover ways that we could
    help each other that would make for a beneficial friendship.
    Who you should be afraid of are the crawling things and the
    small birds, but they will not harm you if they are given notice
    that we have entered into relationship." "Let Lady Bug be with
    me because it is her choice. She has a heart to fly and to fly
    high. She is different from you and so you punish her and treat
    her poorly because she does not accept your ways of limitation,"
    he says.

    "Should she be punished or loved for who she is," he asks?

    "I have chosen to love her because she has loved me without
    judgment. She has welcomed me, accepted me, and caused me to
    feel good again about who I am. For that I am thankful and in
    awe of her beauty," he said.

    "Come, Lady Bug, let us fly," he calls to her.

    On her approach, she asks, "Aren't you forgetting something?"

    As he leans down to kiss her, Lady Bug is transformed into a
    beautiful lady hawk and the Hawk is never lonely anymore. They
    fly together high in the sky. They love each other and sing hawk
    song together. If you listen closely now, you can hear their song
    of love as they dance the sky and keep a watchful eye. Because
    of their watch, the village of the ladybugs is always safe.





Author Unknown