A ladybird crawls on my palm. All of her beautiful contours are visible: her fire-crimson carapace, black-spotted and fragile; her teeny, robust legs that work hard, but effortlessly, to carry her. I love tiny things and I welcome this miniature, perfect creature who scuttles across my skin, stopping only to leave a splat of gold, a gorgeous residue. I sing to her, hoping she will stay with me longer. The ladybird exists here on my hand, seductive and special, a welcome surprise in my day. But I also know that she exists beyond me, in an unknowable place, the elsewhere she shares with her own kind. I whoosh my arm skyward and the ladybird lifts her red hatches to reveal the delicate wings that she uses, inevitably, to leave me. And she is gone. But her imprint remains – brilliant, beguiling – and for the rest of today I will conjure and enjoy again the tickle of her feet; the bittersweet smell of her; and the luck and joy I gained in knowing this particular ladybird, if only for a few moments.
Nuala O’Connor lives in Galway, Ireland. Her sixth novel SEABORNE, about Irish-born pirate Anne Bonny, was published in April 2024 by New Island. Her novel NORA (New Island), about Nora Barnacle and James Joyce, was a Top 10 historical novel in the New York Times. She won Irish Short Story of the Year at the 2022 Irish Book Awards and is editor at flash e-journal Splonk. www.nualaoconnor.com
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