How Nimbee & Noodle Met

I do not remember where I came from. I remember wind. I remember rain, each drop as big as I was.

And I remember landing in a squash blossom, in a garden beside a creek in Colorado. It smelled like breakfast.

In the morning, a grasshopper was looking at me. He was green and gawky, and most of him was long legs. He liked moving fast; even standing still, his knees looked ready to hop.

“You're upside down,” he said. Every ladybug he had ever seen was red with black spots. I was black with red spots.

“I am right side up,” I said. “I checked.” He thought about that for a long time.

“I'm Noodle,” he said.

“I'm Nimbee. I want to see everything in the world,” I said. “So far I have seen this flower. An excellent beginning.” He laughed, and showed me a dry place to rest.