It turned out she’d come to catch bugs too. I watched enviously as she devoured one after another. It was no surprise to me that she was so good at it; she seemed to be proficient in everything she did. Nevertheless, one of the insects evaded her efforts and flew in my direction. I knew instinctively what to do; I deftly caught it in my mouth and jumped over to her, intending to offer her it. Naturally, I couldn’t simply put it down in front of her; I had to introduce myself. Landing by her side, I gulped nervously. ‘Here you...’ I began, and stopped. Drat! In gulping, I’d swallowed the gift. I felt such a fool.

‘Hello!’ she ribbitted brightly, smiling. ‘What were you going to say?’

‘Well,’ I replied, ‘you know that bug you were trying to catch just now and you couldn’t well it came to me and I thought it might be nice to give it back to you if you wanted it so I caught it and came here but when I was about to give it to you I accidentally swallowed it.’

She looked at me curiously and laughed. ‘Oh, how sweet of you!’ she exclaimed. ‘You didn’t have to; there are plenty more about.’

I admitted sheepishly that this was true.

‘You’re not from round here, are you? What’s your name? I’m Felicia, but my friends call me Lish. You can too.’

‘I’m Fabian.’

‘Fabian?’ she repeated. ‘How unusual! I’ve never met a Fabian before. You’re so lucky to have such a lovely name.’ This must have been a fib; for some reason we were all called names beginning with ‘F’ and I myself knew at least half a dozen namesakes of mine.

‘Thanks very much,’ I stammered. ‘Felicia’s lovely too.’

‘Where are you from?’

‘Across the pond.’

‘I thought so; I could tell from your accent.’

‘Do I have a strong accent?’

‘No; not too strong. You have a very pleasant voice.’