Chapter 5 - Rush Hour on the Trunk Interstate

The next day Marissa finally reached the on ramp to the Trunk Interstate, and it was crowded. “Great. Rush hour.” Marissa hated traffic. Caterpillars were too slow and her legs were tired. “And, those ants, always zooming by with their biting comments.” This was not going to be easy, but she had to get home. When traffic slowed, off she went. She noticed right away her wings were the tallest load on the road. “Why weren’t there any other butterflies on the highway?”

A couple of red ants in the next lane slowed to take a look at Marissa. The first ant yelled,
“Nice wings, But-ta-fly, do they work?” and took off laughing. The next ant shouted, “Yo! Moth, get a leg out!”

“Oooooooh, those ants!” Marissa, just ignored them and looked ahead. There she saw the reason traffic had slowed. In the middle of the road, was a Grandma lady bug.

“I was bumped from behind and lost my glasses.” said the lady bug as Marissa helped her out of traffic. “With out those glasses I can’t see a darn thing.”

Marissa saw the glasses and though traffic was fast and furious, she used her wings like a giant stop sign, to halt traffic, go in and grab the glasses. Sadly, the lenses were cracked.

“Bless your heart. That was very brave. I don’t know what I would have done without my glasses. My name is Dotty.” As she put the glasses on her nose and adjusted the chain a little tighter, she said, “I should have flown in the first place.”

“You still fly?” Marissa was shocked. “Aren’t you afraid?”

“Afraid of what?” asked Dotty.

“I don’t know.” Marissa said, “Afraid of getting blown off course by a strong wind or getting lost?”

“Sure, I’m afraid of a lot of things, but I am not going to let my fears hold me back from where I want to go. Now, I must be off to protect my garden from those pesky little aphids.” With that, she laced up her roller blades and away she flew.

“Me brave?” thought Marissa. “That little old lady bug was the brave one, flying with broken glasses. If she can face her fears, what am I doing?” Marissa took a deep breath and shouted

“Out of my way ants!!! Marissa the walking butterfly needs to get home.”