One day a ladybug and a fly were walking on the inside of a window. They were very happy to be on the inside because it was gray and damp on the outside.

The ladybug was minding her own business just crawling along and humming a little buggy tune.

The fly was below her poking around with its long feely-nose, looking for anything of interest.

The fly spied the ladybug and called out, “What’s up!”

“I’m up, that’s what”, she called back down to the fly.

“Hey”, said the fly to the ladybug, “How do you not fall down?”

“Well”, said she, “I can form air bubbles between my feet and that helps me to hang on. I also have some kind of sticky stuff there too, but no one is sure just what it is”.

“Why not?” buzzed the fly.

“It’s a secret”, mused the ladybug. “Mother Nature still holds mysteries.”

“Well”, said the fly, “My feet are no mystery. The bottoms of my feet are very hairy and they can help me to hang on quite well”.

The fly stood still for a moment, and then rubbed the top of its head with its two front feet. It looked somewhat puzzled. “What I can’t figure out, though”, the fly mumbled and buzzed, “is how do our feet stick to smooth windows and walls?”

The ladybug walked down to the fly, and the fly walked up to the ladybug. They met in the middle of the window.

The fly looked at the ladybug.

The ladybug looked at the fly.

Said the ladybug to the fly, “To see our tiny feet and to look deep into the surface of a window, huge and very special microscopes are needed. These microscopes can help eyes to see the tiniest things made by Mother Nature”.

“So, then, does that mean that this window is really not smooth either?” asked the fly.

“That’s right”, answered the ladybug, “it looks and feels smooth, but when we look under one of those big, special microscopes we can see ripples and bubbles and bumps. That’s how come your hairy feet and the bubbles between my feet can grip on and walk on windows.”

“Oh, I get it now”, said the fly to the ladybug. “Well, it was nice talking to you. Have a nice day.” The fly walked up the window and when it reached the top, it flew away.

The ladybug ambled down the window, humming its buggy little tune and wondered when the scientists with the big, special microscopes would figure out the rest of the mystery of what that sticky stuff is that helps her feet stick to windows.

Maybe someday one of you will be the scientist who finds out.

The End