The day had turned out to be really nice. It was late March, or early April, I don’t remember. Who cares about calendars when the sun warms your belly so pleasantly?
I stretched and yawned. I happily glided between wakefulness and slumber. Maja’s winglets shone and lured me. And I could swear they were buzzing with a rendition of ‘Sweet Painted Lady’. I was lulled and aroused… It was getting hot, so I took cover under the leaves.
I don’t know how long I was drowsing, but I woke up because of human yells. I sighed. There’s nothing they enjoy better than making noise and mess. And they call us a plague, don’t they?
The yelling got closer and louder. The ground quaked, the bush shook. Drunk guffaws and ribaldry ripped this calm day in two like a butcher’s knife, beat the bejesus out of it. Someone brayed, “Jujube! Regale the King with sweet savories!” The crowd ululated and rushed to the bush. Holy Royal Hexapods! What were they going to do?!
It smelled of trouble, and I decided it was high time to bug out of this unfortunate plant. I made to leap off and… nothing happened. Reprobate Polyphagas! What the hell? I had a shot at jumping a few times in a row but it was in vain. The sun which had caressed me so pleasantly had also played a low-down trick on me. My back leg had tightly glued to a drop of melted resin. I made the only decision I could. I huddled under a leaf, sat tight and didn’t move. All I could do was to wait out this mayhem.
I have indistinct memories of what happened next. There was a snapping of the bush then someone bending a bagel shape out of twigs. I was like a poppy seed on its surface. There were cries of “Must die!” and “Hosanna!” A cacophony of voices, laughing and crying… the thick smell of blood. The smell drove me crazy. I was twitching like an epileptic and trying to escape this crowned trap. We’re not freaking grigs. We don’t enjoy the stench of flesh. I can’t bear this smell. I just can’t. Desperately, I sank my jaws into my stifled joint…
It grew dark. I hobbled slowly. At least I’d escaped with my life and other limbs intact. After all, it was only a leg. I had another five. And wings! That poor guy now dangling from a cross was definitely having a much worse day than I. Damn. I have wings! Why not just go? I took to the air and laid a course for Horeb. Everybody knows that the best nymphet stews are there, and I really need some rest now.
by TETIANA ALEKSINA
© All rights reserved 2017
Excellent! Great journey from “I happily glided between wakefulness and slumber.” to the end of the day! Bravo!
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It was quite the journey, wasn’t it? Plucky little locust that one! 🙂
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So that is why people hate raisins. Even I would rather chop off my own leg than eat those disgusting things.
Is this the perspective everybody else is talking about? I think this poem is more about hating raisins than sympathizing with five legged bugs. 😛
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Well, I think your perspective is very welcome in its unexpectedness. I honestly didn’t see it that way but I like it! 😛
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I thought it a frog at first! lol…neat story! 😉 T.
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Well, I guess it could have been a six-legged amphibian. Hee hee! 😛
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Clever and riveting!
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And a springboard to fun too! 😉
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This was told from the most interesting point of view. Very well done.
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Yes, Tati certainly has a way of taking on other, more unconventional, views. Thanks for reading, Sidra! 😀
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No problem! I like you guys!
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Adorable and so amusing Tati ….I’m going to read it again out loud in the offbeat sunshine of this mid winter day …love to you and dear Tony too ….🙏🏽💜🙏🏽
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Thank you, Meg, for reading as always. Love to you and yours too! ❤
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Oh my! Oh my! I was right there huddled beneath the leaf!
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Getting ready to spring! 😛
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Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful, wonderful, wonderful.
If I could keep hitting like to show you how much I like this, I would probably drown the website with golden stars.
Love your work.
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So that’s where all that extra glitter came from… 😛
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Woah! Thank you, Henry. 😀
Long time no hear… where on God’s green earth have you been keeping yourself?
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Tati … you tell stories that paint pictures in my mind … this one I’ll tell my grandkids when they ask about the cross..
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Yes! It’s a good one to tell because it’s a fresh perspective really. 😉
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💥 Pow!
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Right between the eyes! 😛
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