Work Text:
Pulau Langkawi, Malaysia, Earth, 2210
“That’s weird.” Rajeev said bending down closer to look at the unusual insect.
The three children had found an unusual brightly coloured insect among the leaf litter in their local park. The exoskeleton, oval in shape, was orange with iridescent blue dots. The insect had long legs and prominent feelers and looked different to the other insects they had observed.
“No it’s not!” Said Philippa, her dark eyes brightening, “It’s just different. It’s a bug you’ve never seen before.”
Anwar, the other kid Philippa was playing with, picked up a stick and started to poke at the insect.
“Don’t do that.” Said Philippa angrily as she lunged to pull the stick away, “you’ll hurt it.”
“But it’s just a bug.” Protested Anwar.
“If you were a bug you wouldn’t like it.” Said Philippa.
Philippa knelt down closer to the insect and coaxed it onto a large green leaf she had picked up. The boys let out frustrated grunts almost simultaneously. But Philippa didn’t care. She walked away gingerly, the leaf and its precious cargo still in her hand. She was going to save this creature and she wasn’t going to listen to anyone telling her not too.