It's A Small World

Alexa watched the worm as it crawled and wriggled along her arm.  Worms are so interesting, she thought.  I wonder what they think?

“How can you stand having that thing crawling on you?” Carl asked.  “Worms are disgusting.”

Alexa grinned at him and waved her arm closer to him. “It’s just a little tiny worm, Carl.  Here, let him crawl up your arm. It feels kind of tickly.  It’s not gross.”

“No way!  Don’t put that yucky thing on me!” Carl moved away from Alexa, watching her distrustfully.

“OK, I won’t put him on you. You might hurt him, anyway,” Alexa teased. But seriously Carl, don’t you think they’re fascinating? I mean, don’t you just wonder what makes them act like they do?”

“No, I don’t think about them at all,” Carl answered. “I’d just rather not.”

Alexa could not understand why Carl hated worms so much. Most of the class didn’t like them, but Alexa really liked them. She liked watching them burrow into things. She liked watching them inch along. She even liked watching them turn into beetles.
Someday, thought Alexa, I’ll understand everything worms do. Other little bugs, too.

“Yes, you will, Alexa. In fact, you will know more than anyone else. You will be an entomologist.”

Alexa turned and looked up at a beautiful woman.  “How did you know what I was thinking?” she asked.  “Who are you?”

The woman just laughed.  “Let’s just say I know a lot about you.  If you’ll come with me I’ll show you.”

“OK.  Where are we going?”

“We’re going to my laboratory.  It’s a place devoted to the study of bugs.  I think you’ll like it.”

“Cool!” said Alexa.  “Let’s go.”  Alexa took the lady’s hand, and suddenly they were standing in a room filled with microscopes and small terrariums filled with bugs and all kinds of scientific equipment.

“Wow.  What do you do here?”  Alexa was drawn to the bug cages, watching the tiny creatures as they dug and climbed and crawled.

“I study bugs,” the lady answered.  “I study the how and why of everything they do.  I am an entomologist.”

“You’re a what?”

“An entomologist.  That is a person who studies bugs.”

“There is a name for it?  I want to do that!  How can I get to be an entomologist?”  Alexa was excited by the possibilities.

“You have to go to college.  I have a doctorate in entomology.  I spend my time collecting and studying bugs,” the lady said.

Alexa spent the afternoon with the lady.  They looked at some bugs under microscopes.  They listened to the sounds they made with special microphones.  They watched them burrow and crawl and climb, just like Alexa did with the worm in class.

“This is so much fun.  I can hardly believe you get to do this all the time.  You are so lucky!”  Alexa said.

The lady laughed.  “Not everyone would agree with you, but I think so too.  I am lucky.  You will be too, if you follow your dream.”

“How do I do it?  I mean, how do I make sure I get to do this when I grow up?” Alexa asked.

“You study hard.  It’s worth the hard work, Alexa, because in the end you get to do exactly what you love.”

“I’ll do it!  Thank you for showing me this cool lab.  Someday I’ll work in one like this.”

“Yes you will.  Just keep following your dream.”  Alexa turned around and realized she was back in her classroom.

“Lady wait!  Who are you?  Will I ever see you again?”

From somewhere far away she heard, “Alexa, I am you, in twenty years.  Remember, follow your dream!”

Alexa thought about that beautiful lady.  That’s what I’m going to be like? I sure hope so.  I’ll do it, lady, she thought.  I’ll follow my dream.