"Fletcher! Get your hairy body down here this instant!!!!!!"

"Coming!" I sighed. It seems that dragonflies are so impatient.

"Fletcher! Where have you been, you silly caterpillar! You said we would go exploring the thicket at brightest light, and it's passed brightest light, and you haven't popped your head out from your leafy home!"

That's Crystal the dragonfly. She's my only friend around here, but she's a bit pushy and impatient. As much as I like to explore the thickets with her and take rides on her back, sometimes I get sick of her.

"We can go exploring now!" I huffed, shaking my head.

"Well, what took you so long?" Crystal flapped her wings.

"I was eating lunch!"

"Eat, eat, eat, thats all you caterpillars ever do!"

"That's what caterpillars were made to do, Crystal! We're supposed to eat and eat until we transform into butterflies!"

Ugh. I can't believe I just said the dreaded B word. BUTTERFLY.

"Let's just stop arguing," I told Crystal. "We do this too often. Let's just go explore."

The Thicket is a huge tangle of branches, vines, leaves, flowers, and berries. It's the perfect home for an insect, and there are many different species living in here. I'm a hairy caterpillar. Crystal is a dragonfly. There's also a huge colony of ants, some butterflies, spiders, dragonflies, and so much more! We all live in houses made from leaves and twigs along the branch highways, where insect traffic either flies or crawls, trying to get to different sections of the Thicket.

Crystal and I crawled along the branch, making our way to the outside of the Thicket, dodging several buzzing bumblebees and scarab beetles as we went. As we came to the thinnest point of the branch, we could see through the leafy bear river that marked the edge of the Thicket.

Crystal and I pushed our way through. The trees towered above us, blocking the sun and creating a canopy of green.

"Here we are again," I breathed. "Outside the thorny tangles of the Thicket, where predators can swoop down on us at any moment! The excitement! The adventure! Are you ready?" I asked the dragonfly beside me.

"Ready when you are Fletcher, my hairy caterpillar companion! Climb aboard!" Crystal lowered one pair of her wings so I could inch my way onto her back.

As soon as I was ready, I called, "Insects away!"

"Away we go!" Crystal exclaimed and began to beat her wings. We rose into the air, hovered in place for a few moments, and then we were off! The forest flew by at the speed of light, a blur of greens and browns.

"Yeeeeeeeeeeeehhhhaaaaawwwww!" I whooped. "Faster, dragonfly, and up and away to the unknown!"