Inevitable

October 15, 2022

Last night, I found a dead bug in the toilet bowl when I returned home after cycling. I did not think about it much and just flushed it. Then the night proceeded routinely, and finally, I went to sleep.

In the middle of the night, I woke up from a dream. The dream was still on my mind, so I couldn’t sleep. So, I drank some water and went to the washroom. To my surprise, the bug was still there.

So, I flushed it again. But this time, I watched the bug go down the drain. To my surprise, it was somehow still there. On closer inspection, I found that it was not dead. It was upside down with the wings stuck in the water. I was not really sure what to do. But then I thought this guy had been stuck here for about 8-10 hours, struggling to survive, not giving up. 8-10 hours for a bug is a long time considering most bugs’ lifespan is less than a year. In human time, it would be about a month. I was impressed, and I thought this guy deserved a second chance. So, I went out, picked a small stick, took it out of the water, and then left it at the window(the one from which it probably came). As I was going out, I heard a gentle thud with a buzz.

The bug was lying on the floor, again upside down. The wings were wet, so it wasn’t able to fly. I realised that the wings would never dry in here, and it would never make it out from here. So, I decided to pick it up and escort it out of the house. I carried it outside only to realise that the wings were still wet. So it still probably wouldn’t be able to fly. At that point, I was fully committed to saving it.

So, I carried it back inside, put it on the floor of my hall, turned the fans on, and turned the lights on. Then I watched it for a few minutes. It was flapping its wings, slowly moving around and doing much better than before. So, I decided it was time to go back to sleep. As I turned around, I heard a swish. So, turned back around, and the bug disappeared.

Was the bug faking it all along? Or did it miraculously recover? But I didn’t see it fly, and there was no exit. I was confused. I looked around but didn’t find the bug, but I found a gecko. Then it clicked. I wish I was wrong, but it was there, the wings peeking out of the gecko’s mouth.

I’m not sure how I feel about this incident.

• ← The Lone Wolf