“Hee, hee,” Tristan giggled, as he walked up the stairs to the front porch of his home. There sat Grandpa Jake in his favorite rocking chair. Just as he did each evening, he was watching the sunset.

“You seem to be having fun, Tristan,” Grandpa Jake said.

Tristan looked up and grinned. “Oh, I just saw the funniest thing!”

“So it seems,” Grandpa Jake replied. “Tell me about it. What was so funny?”

“I was playing with my friend behind the house,” Tristan began, “when we saw Derek from next door come out of his house. You wouldn’t believe what happened!”

“Oh?” Grandpa Jake inquired, raising a curious eyebrow. “And what was that?”

“When Derek came out of the house he tripped and fell down the stairs. But the funny thing was that when he got up, his foot was stuck in a small bucket. He couldn’t get his foot out of the bucket. He was pulling and pulling, trying to get it out. When he finally did, his shoe stayed stuck in the bucket.”

By the end of his story, Tristan was laughing very hard, but his grandpa wasn’t. Instead, a sad look came across Grandpa Jake’s face.

“He could have been badly hurt! How do you think Derek felt when you and your friend were laughing at him?” Grandpa Jake asked.

Tristan looked at his grandpa. He was a little puzzled as he thought about that.

Grandpa Jake continued, “If you were in Derek’s place, how would you feel if someone started laughing when something unpleasant happened to you?” 

“Not so good, I guess,” Tristan said in a whisper. He stared at the ground.

“It usually doesn’t feel very nice when people make fun of you, especially when you’ve had an accident. That reminds me of a story about Wallace.”

Tristan’s face lit up. “Please tell me!”

* * *

Wallace walked slowly along, pushing his way around the blades of grass. He was bent and he hobbled along, leaning hard on a twig for support. There was a bandage on his leg and a pained look on his face.

The day before, while collecting food for his dinner, Wallace had tripped over a dandelion root and injured his leg. Drudy had come to his rescue. She had gotten him all bandaged up and fed him some dinner too, so he wouldn’t have to walk on his hurt leg. Today Wallace was feeling a bit better. He was able to hobble along with the help of a crutch, but he still felt pretty miserable.

“Why did I have to get all banged up?” he muttered to himself. “Now I have this big bandage on my leg and it hurts. I feel terrible! If only I hadn’t tripped over that root, none of this would’ve happened.”

Wallace limped slowly on. Suddenly his crutch snapped in two. Once again, Wallace landed in a heap on the ground.

“OUCH!” he cried.

“I didn’t think things could get worse,” he said angrily, “but now look at me.--I’ve fallen once again.”

Poor Wallace!

Just then he heard a snicker nearby. Wallace turned and spotted two little beetles sitting on a cloverleaf laughing. They had been watching Wallace hobble along through the grass, and when his twig broke it looked so funny to them that they laughed and laughed.

“Wallace is so clumsy,” said Specks, in between laughs.

The other beetle, Jibber, started chanting, “Wobbly Wallace!”

Specks joined in, and the two began singing that line over and over again.

Wallace stared at the ground. His sore leg hurt even more now, but what was worse was the hurt he felt inside. He wanted to cry. His eyes grew misty as the two beetles continued chanting.

I guess I really am wobbly and clumsy, Wallace thought sadly. I seem to have a lot of accidents. And then after that, I have more accidents. I’m always hurting myself or spilling this or dropping that. I can’t do anything!

“Go away,” he said sadly to Jibber and Specks. But the naughty beetles only laughed harder.

* * *

“Oh dear, what happened here?” It was Drudy. She hovered just above Wallace, with a concerned look on her face. “I guess that’s what the shout I heard was all about,” she said. “I’m so sorry that you fell again, Wallace.”

Wallace didn’t look up at Drudy; he continued to stare at the ground. He now had tears in his eyes. 

“Are you okay, Wallace?” Drudy asked, wondering why her normally cheerful friend seemed so sad. She settled on a leaf near him. “Does it really hurt?” she asked.

Wallace nodded his head slightly.

It was then that Drudy heard Jibber and Specks, still giggling and chanting nearby. She tilted her head to listen to them.

“Wobble … wobble … Wobbly Wallace!” they said, and then burst into laughter again.

The beetles hadn’t noticed Drudy’s arrival and were very surprised when they looked up to see the dragonfly hovering in front of them. There was a disappointed look on her face.

“Are you beetles having fun?” she asked.

Jibber and Specks stopped laughing and sat up straight. “Uh … uh,” Specks stuttered.

“We just saw something very funny, that’s all,” Jibber said, and then giggled as she looked at Specks.

“When Wallace was walking, his crutch snapped,” Jibber told Drudy. “It was so, so funny.” And the two beetles laughed some more.

But Drudy wasn’t laughing.

“You know what?” she said. “It may have looked pretty funny to you, but poor Wallace could’ve been badly hurt, and instead of finding out if he was okay, you just laughed at him. You can make someone feel very sad inside if you make fun of him when things go wrong.”

The beetles looked thoughtfully at Wallace. Then, all of a sudden, the cloverleaf they had been sitting on gave in under their weight. The two beetles tumbled to the ground, rolling as they did.

Seeing the beetles rolling around in the soft grass was a rather funny sight, but instead of laughing, Drudy hurried over to Jibber and Specks and asked if they were all right.

“Oh dear, that was quite a fall,” she said. “Are you hurt?”

“I’m okay,” Specks said.

“Me too. Just a little tumble,” added Jibber.

“I’m so glad you’re not hurt,” Drudy said, as she helped the beetles to their feet.

“I feel really bad about making fun of Wallace,” Specks said, as he dusted himself off.

“Me too,” Jibber said shyly. “We should go say we’re sorry.”

“And maybe we can help him with some things,” Specks added. “That way he doesn’t have to walk on his sore leg.”

“That’s so thoughtful of you two,” Drudy said with a smile. “I’m sure Wallace would appreciate your kindness and help.”

* * *

Drudy and the two beetles helped Wallace get back home and then fixed his bandage. When Drudy had to leave, Jibber and Specks stayed with Wallace until the sun had set.

“It was so nice of you to spend time with me and help me,” Wallace said, as the two beetles got up to head home.

“We had fun,” Specks said. “And maybe tomorrow we can come and see you again.”

“That would be nice,” Wallace said thankfully. “I probably shouldn’t walk around too much until my leg is a bit better. I’d enjoy your company.”

“We’ll be here, then,” Jibber said with a smile. “Hope your leg feels better soon. See you tomorrow.”

* * *

“The end,” Grandpa Jake read, closing his storybook.

“I feel badly about making fun of Derek,” Tristan said thoughtfully after a moment’s silence. “I’m going to try to be nicer to him and not laugh when things go wrong for him.”

“That’s excellent,” Grandpa Jake said. “I’m sure he’ll enjoy having you as a friend.”

Moral: Do to others what you would want them to do to you. As you do, you’ll find out how much you get in return.—Jesus.