One afternoon, Smush happened upon Mogey in the gum tree orchard. His pal was chewing a prodigious wad of gum and staring at something in his cupped hands.
"What've you got there?" Smush inquired, plucking a ripe wad of gum from the nearest branch and popping it into his mouth.
"A beetle," Mogey replied around chomps of gum.
Smush took a peek and gasped. "Show some respect, Mogey!" he exclaimed. "That's no common beetle; it's a ladybug!"
"So?"
"So? SO?? This gentlebug is a member of the insect nobility! Perhaps the heiress to a great hive. You should be bowing down to her. Or at least fetching her a cup of tea."
"Is that true?" Mogey asked the small spotted creature. She wiggled a foreleg in an unmistakable gesture to come closer, which both Mogey and Smush did.
"Firstly," said the ladybug in a tiny voice, "you will address me as Her Ladyship Layla de Bug. Secondly, almost everything your friend said is correct. Thirdly, the only thing your friend said that is not correct is that you should fetch me a cup of tea. I prefer malt liquor - Olde English if you can find it. I am a Lady of the most noble House de Bug, after all, so only the finest will do. Now run along! And spit out that gum when you're in my presence, for heavens' sakes!"
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