This rather large creature showed up on my deck the other day. I’m not a big fan of creepy-looking bugs, so I was none too pleased to see it lounging there in the sun as if waiting for me to fetch an iced tea and a straw.

“Would you like your tea with a squish of lemon?”

“Uh… did you say ‘squish’?” The creature eyed me nervously. Or at least I think it did. With those shimmering eyes it’s hard to tell where it may have been looking.

“Did I? That must have been a swat. A slap. Er, I mean a slip. What I meant to say  was a ‘slice’ of lemon.”

The creature shifted from one foot to the other. To the other… to the other…

“Everyone thinks my kind are terrible, and they just want us dead. Okay, so we suck blood. And spread diseases. And harm livestock.”

“And your point is?” I paused, boot in mid-air just inches above the creature’s head.

“Just try to see the world through my eyes.”

“Through your eyes?” I bent down to study the gleaming, striped, colorful shields that I assumed were the creature’s eyes.

“Yes. Look deeeeep into my eyes.” The creature began to sway back and forth. “You’re getting sleeeeepy….”

I could barely keep my head up. I just wanted to lay down and rest.

“When I count to ten, you’ll see things as I do.”

“You can count to ten? But you’re just a bug!”

“One… two… ”

I tried to blink, to turn away, but I couldn’t. The creature’s voice droned on.

“Eight… nine… ten! Now look at me and tell me what you see.”

I flicked my wings and shuffled my six feet.

“Wow! Words cannot describe!” I marveled. “But you know what? I suddenly have a thirst for blood.”

“Great! Let’s go find another unsuspecting human!”

And with that, we buzzed away into the sunny, blue sky.

JNW’s Halloween Challenge: creature