Dragonfly Whisperer

That night, I couldn't get to sleep, despite knowing that we had to get up early to make another long drive tomorrow. So, I changed to my swimsuit and headed to the hot tub. When I got there, I found Katja with her hands raised above the water, holding a dragonfly.

"Mind if I join you?" I asked.

She shook her head and continued soft, melodic whistling to the little bug.

Twenty minutes later, she stopped and the little thing zipped off into the air.

"What were you doing?" I asked.

"Oh, some of the dragonflies I brought along after strangers that got caught up in my swarm. I was bonding with that one."

I had no idea what she actually meant, so I asked, "Do you 'bond' with all your dragonflies? And, if so, why?"

Katja giggled as another dragonfly landed on her nose, "Only if I want them to obey."

"And they do obey?"

"Better than a trained dog. I can get them to do all sorts of things, from carrying a microphone or tiny camera to grabbing a piece of paper, though that's difficult because it requires a pair working together."

Which sounded pretty useful, though I'm not sure how well "stolen by dragonflies" would hold up in court.

"How much can they carry?"

"Only a few grams, for the big ones. The small ones, less than a gram."

And that was the downside to working with tiny bugs. I suddenly imagined what it would like if a shaman could control something larger, like a robin or a squirrel.