I’m sitting an arm’s length away from an insect, genus pterodactyl. If it does anything to close the gap between us, I’ll kill it with a nearby chair.
The body is brown and appears to be tattooed. If its back legs were pulled straight it would be as tall as me. The nice thing is it’s a slow mover. I like spiders because they are slow movers. I’m only afraid of earwigs and centipedes because they can outrun me. It’s moving around in circles on the wall just under my kitchen window, directionless. I’m still scared.
Now, it’s off the wall and heaving itself up onto the wooden windowsill. I think it’s on its way to freedom. Man, can it climb. I’ll move my feet. If it slips and falls I’ll get a nasty bruise.
I don’t see any wings. It’s rubbing its legs together. It’s at eye level. Oh my god, I think it’s facing me. If this thing takes off I’ll use my clipboard as a shield. I’m writing this without looking at the page.
Why is it so still and where are the rest of its relatives? I killed something like this a few months ago. It bled blue. Is this payback time?
Why doesn’t it scurry toward the ill-fitting screen? WHAT IS IT LOOKING AT ME FOR?
It’s taken a military stance. I could go in the other room. It would take a day and a half to follow me and fortunately I’m going away for the weekend. So, why am I leaning back in my chair? I’ll move to see what it does. It just raised an antenna the way a terrorist raises an eyebrow. Should I throw something at it? Turn off the light? Start my vacation early?
I’m definitely more scared of it than it is of me. How can it stand there so implacable, so confident? Why do I want to provoke it? What if…it’s mov…it flies, IT FLIES.
It came straight at me. I screamed and hit it mid-flight with my clipboard, sending it somewhere into my living room. Now I have to find it. I’m tiptoeing. Perhaps I think I can sneak up on it.
There it is, lying motionless on its back on my desk. I lean over it and one antenna begins to rise. I hate to see any living thing in pain, so I cream it with my duck boot.
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