Coffee For A Fly

• Tahlia Henderson, Grade 11
• Short Story
• 2022

As a creature of small stature, I was often misled by the world. I was strange and grotesque, shooed and shunned. I had 3 pairs of legs while they had only one. They’ve bullied me for my body, for my large kaleidoscope eyes and hairy legs. They’ve bullied me for how I act as if we didn’t all rub our hands together in excited bliss before we devoured our meals, whatever they may be. Our diets may have differed but that is because our bodies did too. Why did they harass me for what I consumed?
It was then, on a day as typical as any, I was leisurely flying about until was caught in an aromatic current. It was a rich, roasted brew that they were all drinking as they chatted away. Never before had I found such a large group of bipedal bullies, although, at that moment I was thoroughly seduced. The murky bittersweet warmth grasped me tight and lured me into that building, like a child following a trail of sweets. There was no room for questions; I was intoxicated with the buzzing glory of what was before me. I rubbed my hands together as I often did. I slowly lowered my body into the surprisingly dense liquid, its riveting scent drowning my senses. I swam and bathed, I thought my poor little soul had exploded and flown up to heaven; it was the single most magnificent experience of my life. I gulped the dark roast as if I was dying of dehydration and there was no cure. As I rolled in my joy, blind to the rest of the world despite my large bulging eyes, a metallic vessel scooped me from the heavens and threw me into the fiery depths of what I could only assume was hell. The sudden cold tore at my damp body. My wings were too soaked to take flight forcing the resulting panic into all six of my short legs as I sped away from imminent danger. To my dismay and lack of surprise, it was one of those oversized beasts harassing me again. SMACK, SMACK, SMACK! It had unleashed its startling attack, so ferocious it nearly snatched the surface from below my feet. I weaved back and forth through the maze ahead of me jumping onto various metal instruments like the one that sent me here. I ran across white islands of glorious food with no time to double back for a bite. I became so overwhelmed with exhaustion while the monstrous beast's aim only improved. It wouldn’t be long before my legs gave in, I was running out of time. Then it hit me. An escape; my reckless scrambling had dried my wings enough to soar onto a breeze and leave behind the mirage of liquid perfection. I screamed a battle cry as I charged to the edge of the table, and jumped. With a hairsbreadth, I outstretched my wings and eased into the wind narrowly gliding away from harm.