After his hiking trip up in the Northwoods, Theorbo travelled with some friends (not by swimming, for once) to the state of Colorado, having been told of incredible, mesmerizing views on the trails in the Rocky Mountains. His friends and himself soon find themselves trekking through the Needle Mountains subrange on a gorgeous, partly-cloudy summer day, when they come across an opening that leads to them discovering a lovely crystal-blue lake down a rocky shoreline. The mountain range bumps up into the sky through the background, and the air feels crisper around here. On the lake, gigantic lilypads are sprung up - it is late August after-all, the time when they are found to be the biggest. The lake is clear enough where the thick stems of the lily pads can be seen from above looking down on the water's surface. Thrilled to cool off from the beaming sun for a bit, Theorbo zigzags down the coastline and jumps into the lake.

Theorbo doesn't weigh too much - if he did, he would run out of energy pretty much immediately while swimming (he has only ever been able to head to the Ocean from Lake Superior and back because of his high endurance and dexterity!) He hasn't weighed himself before, though the lilypad could talk, it'd give a pretty fair estimate. While the lilypads around here are larger than your typical ones, and hold more firmly against downward pressures, his friends are still impressed by his ability to climb into one and crouch.

While he crouches, taking in the beauty of the mountain range and its reflection onto the water, an unexpected visitor starts hovering in the air around him. At first, the critter hovers behind his head, and this causes him to swivel his head and shoulders around to see what it is. Unfortunately, this little motion causes an internal torque on the lily pad, generating rotation due to the water providing little frictional resistance, and he ends up facing away from the mountains. Theorbo doesn't seem to care though, as he's realized the critter is a dragonfly, and while the lilypad was twisting around, it had landed on his index finger which he had stuck out.

Theorbo stares at it with curiosity, yet he is a bit frightened, as he doesn't want to scare it away. He is engrossed by its elegance and grace. He brings his finger closer to his face, and he makes eye contact with the insect. This one is most certainly a male, probably a Flame Skimmer, a dragonfly native to Colorado, using its blood-red body to attract female mates. For a moment, the dragonfly pauses all movement, and stands completely still. It’s almost like it’s fully concentrated on Theorbo. He squints, and Theorbo swears the dragonfly tilts its head in the same direction as his is tilted. Before he has time to fully embrace the moment however, his friends yell at him to get his attention and he startles, scaring the dragonfly away. He rolls his eyes, but realizes the yell means it's time for them to continue on the trail. He dives into the water, climbs back onto shore, and carries on with the hike. For the remainder of the hike though, and for most of the remainder of the whole getaway, all he can think about is the way the dragonfly seemed to have been just as, if not more captivated by Theorbo's presence than he was by its.

Drawn by 茄子乃 (nasuno_Posi) on Bsky and X!
Artist's upload: https://bsky.app/profile/nasunop.bs...../3mgmtzc7si22o
Circa March 2026