Hiya, kids - P.Ray Mantis here. And I gotta tell ya, I really have been "P.Raying" that the scary creature lurking in the bottom of my pond doesn't get ME!

Yeah, I know, I'M supposed to be the big predator around here! Speaking of which - that fly over there doesn't see me. Must think I'm just a twig. C'mon over here, tasty fly…just a little closer…GOTCHA! Munch, munch, munch — belch!

Whoops - 'scuse me, kids! Must have been somebody I ate!

Anyway, Miss No-Aphid Ladybug told me she was flying over the pond the other day and saw this big thing jump up from the bottom of the water and swallow one of the baby mosquitoes floating there! Then it came back and ate another one. Then another! And then she said she saw "it" eat a fish! Really!

There's lots of tiny little fish in my pond. (Miss No-Aphid calls them "fry.") Anyway, she said she was watching this "thing" on the bottom of the pond when one of them came swimming past, AND ATE THE LITTLE FISHIE!

Now THAT got my antennae up! Anything that can eat a fish might try and take a bite out of me too. In fact, Vito the mud-dauber wasp told me that there were creatures like this in other ponds and streams, and when they finish eating everything in the water, they come out looking for more! So I've had my eye on the pond all day. That creature won't take me by surprise! No sireee. I'll show it who's the big bad predator around here! Why, I'll….

"Hey, P.Ray!"

"Yaaaaaaa!!!!!!!!"

"Whoa! What's the matter?! I never saw a mantis jump THAT high before!"
"Huh? Wha?! Oh, its only YOU, O'Donata! What are you doing sneaking up on innocent insects like that? You almost scared the fly out of me!"

"I was just on my garden rounds and thought I'd stop by. What's the matter? And hey, what's that coming out of the pond?"

"Yaaaaaa times two!!!! Get behind me, O'Donata - I'll protect you from this ferocious monster!"

"Monster? Ha - that's a good one, P.Ray. Don't you know what that is?"
"It's The Creature From The Pond! It's going to try and eat us all!"

"I thought that was your job," O'Donata smirked.

"Very funny. Good thing for you I don't pounce on my friends when they catch me by surprise! Oh, no - that misshapen hulk is out of the pond already. It's climbing up on top of a rock. Now it's getting bigger! We're doomed! I'm doomed!"

"Not unless you're a mosquito, you're not," she said.

"What do you mean?"

"Here, I'll show you." O'Donata flew over to the wriggling mass on the rock and flapped her wings, harder and harder, blowing all the water off it. Suddenly, the Creature seemed to burst open and become larger and larger, doubling and tripling its size in minutes!

O'Donata turned around. "See P.Ray — there was nothing to be afraid of…hey! Where ARE you?"

"I'm up here in this tree," I yelled down to her, "so I can…ah…eh, be more ready to attack the creature…."

"Oh P.Ray - don't be scared! That's my cousin!" said O'Donata.

"Your…cousin???" I said in disbelief.

"Just watch."

We watched the Creature crawl forward, leaving behind a paper-thin shell. Then suddenly, huge wings sprang out on both sides, and I realized that I really was looking at a dragonfly — just like O'Donata. Slowly, I climbed back down.

"Did YOU come out of the water like that, too?" I asked O'Donata

"All of us dragonflies do. I was a naiad swimming around in a cool mountain stream for two whole years before I got my wings! I ate a lot — mostly mosquito larva — and grew bigger and bigger, and then eventually I crawled up out of the water, shed my old skin, unfolded my wings, and…."

Just then, the newly emerged dragonfly realized his wings were dry enough, flapped them hard, and flew away. "Where's HE going?" I asked.

"Oh, he's really hungry after all those changes, so he'll find lots of bugs to eat: gnats, mosquitoes, black flies, horse flies, deer flies…"

"Those are all bad bugs that bite and sting people," I noted.

"Yep - you mantises don't care WHAT you eat, but we dragonflies are very particular; we only eat pests that really 'bug' people. That's why everyone should protect our breeding sites - lakes, streams, and ponds — so that there will always be lots of dragonflies to save them from bug bites in the summer. Hey - I almost forgot why I stopped here! I bought you a gift: the latest issue of Scary Stories Magazine for Manti."

"Thanks," I said, "but I've had quite enough scares for one day!"