Spontaneous Ceremony

Serena rolled her shoulders as she made her rounds around the gym in the early morning hours. It had been a calm morning so far. Cocking her head to the side in curiosity, she pondered the strange sight before her. Instead of running around in the typical boundless energy, three of the kiddos were sprawled out on the floor in a circle. Serena slowly inched closer, hoping to decipher the meaning behind the unusual scene. It was a strange mystery to unravel; calmly having a powwow on the ground was abnormal gym behavior. As she quietly crept closer, the trio were unaware, completely immersed in their current endeavor.

“You may now kiss the bride!” Adrianna suddenly announced with gusto.

“Serena blinked, perplexed as to what she had just walked into. Glancing at the three girls, Serena tried to piece together what was transpiring, as the trio began to squeal in glee.

“Kevin Bevin just kissed her!” Adrianna exclaimed fervently.

“Crystal Diamond is married now—it’s so hard to believe,” Maisy remarked. “They grow up so fast!”

“Right? Here’s to the happy couple!” Amy cheered.

Serena shook her head slightly, stifling a chuckle. She had stumbled upon a cricket wedding. Never would have anticipated this, Serena mused silently. They’ll always come up with something interesting.

The crickets—apparently, Kevin Bevin and Crystal Diamond—were two crickets the kids had recently caught in the school hallway. Serena wasn’t sure what it was about the hallways, kids, and crickets, but the kiddos had become obsessed with finding and caring for crickets lately. It was an interesting turn of events. They were constantly scouring the hallways in hopes of finding new pet crickets. More often than not, the crickets they discovered were already deceased, much to their dismay.

Some of the kids, however, were unperturbed by the lifeless state of said crickets and cared for them anyway, pretending as if the crickets still lived. Serena reckoned it might be for the best, though, that so many no longer remained amongst the living. She still pitied the poor cricket the kids had found last week. In their attempt to provide for the cricket’s need for water, they placed said cricket in a cup with water. Providing the cricket water wasn’t an issue, per se, but rather the sheer amount of it. The poor thing was swimming in it and, ultimately, met its demise via drowning.

Getting crushed by a sea of pounding feet, drowning through misguided kindness, braving the elements with the cold front that moved in—these crickets couldn’t catch a break. Serena hoped for their sakes that Crystal and Kevin faired better. A wedding seemed harmless enough, but many things could prove fatal for such tiny, fragile critters. The kids would be devastated, too. She had already heard about the tear-jerking funeral the kids performed for one of the deceased crickets. The kiddos and their hearts would be shattered if they had to follow up the wedding with yet another funeral.

Serena sent up a silent prayer for the safety, wellbeing, and happiness for the “newly-wed” crickets. Though they be small, they, too, deserved peace and love. Strange as it was to witness—and although not official or legal—at least the children were happily occupied and not causing unintentional harm. They were being quite gentle with Kevin and Crystal. Best of luck to you, Serena thought, although, hopefully you won’t need it. Fate seemed kind to the cricket duo at the moment, but Serena knew that sometimes the kids were fickle and would do a 180 within an instant. Serena hoped the girls would remain kind to the crickets; they may be insects, but that doesn’t mean they deserved to die. Treat all, whether big or small, with kindness, respect, and love was her philosophy.