there is a mosquito. in my room. it’s whining in my ear.
i turn the lamp on. sit up. wait for my eyes to adjust. then look around. my room is white, bed spread, white. it shouldn’t be too hard to see a black speck on all this white. right?
no sign of my mosquito friend. no sound. cheeky mosquito. i turn off the lamp, try to sleep. “nnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn,” says the mosquito. “shush! i’m trying to sleep mr mosquito,” i say.
i turn the lamp back on, pull the covers off, get out of bed. slowly move around the room. it’s so quiet that it seems numbingly loud. i can hear my brain thinking. tick, tick, tick.
AH HA!
i whack my hands together as hard and fast as i can.
did i get him, did i get him? no luck. he’s too fast. clever mosquito. his whine becomes more high pitched. he’s panicking. he knows i want to kill him. “look out, mr mosquito! i’m coming to get you.”
wikipedia tells me dragon flies eat mosquitos. but i don’t like them very much. their fast fluttering wings scare me a little. like a helicopter. i feel they’re going to chop me up.
i stalk around my room. listening as hard as i can. closing my eyes as if removing the use of one sense will heighten the effectiveness of my hearing sense. the whine draws close. i pull my sleeves up, but put my slippers on. if he lands on my arm, i’ll see him, but he’ll just attack my feet. i won’t see him there. and he has proven to be a smart mosquito. but, i can outsmart him. so on with the slippers.
i put my arms out as a target, a tempting trap for this sneaky mosquito. he doesn’t take the bait. so i pull my sleeves down and stalk around my room some more.
five minutes pass. ten. fifteen.
then, i finally have him cornered. slap. miss. SLAP. miss. SLAP SLAP SLAP!
got him.
chuffed, i hop back into bed. turn off the lamp. lay there with a smile on my face.
then the whine starts again.
