A Fly's Tragedy

      I’m propped up on my hind legs, slowly rubbing the ends of my front two legs together. My wings flap, excitedly, as I spot the window, which is opened ajar. I must have been buzzing around this room for hours, I think, seeing as the sky has now turned a heavy grey.

            I leaned my body forward, my wings preparing themselves, and then I zip right. Then left. Then forward. Then I spin in a circle. I zip down. Then up. Then down. Down. Down, until I land underneath the curve of the table.

            I quickly waddle over the edge and onto the flat surface. Almost immediately, my senses burn with such sweetness and such tartness that my eyes begin to water. My wings flap and I hover above the table, letting my nose guide me towards the scent. I drop down at the edge of the large pool of orange juice. I lift up on my hind legs and rub my front two legs together. My abdomen shudders.

            I dive headfirst into the liquid, burying myself. I close my eyes, the juice tasting lukewarm and rotten as it slides silkily down my gullet.

            Then my wings twitch.

            I open my eyes, annoyed, and look up. A red, crisscrossed rectangle is hovering above me. My eyes flash to the orange juice- then I zip forward. Then right. Then left. Then forward. Then I spin in a circle. I zip down. Then up. Then down. Then up. Up. Up, until I land on the refrigerator door. I cock my head to the right and then to the left. I do this a few more times.

            I see the human now. He has a large swatter in his hand. Behind him, I see the orange juice, and behind the orange juice I see the window. I want both.

            I lift off of the refrigerator door, and fly at a leisurely pace well above the human’s reach. All I know is that if I don’t acknowledge him, he won’t acknowledge me. However, I feel the human following me with his eyes, the swatter ready at his side. I tremble.

            I pass the orange juice, keeping my nose held high, but its nectar tantalizes me, and my mind becomes hazy. I loop around, suddenly, and down I go, spinning like a leaf to the ground.

            My wings extract, stopping my descent. I focus on the dark sky, knowing it’s where I must go. I zip to the right, and then to the left. Then forward. Then I spin in a circle. I zip down. Then up.

            I don’t know where I’m going. I’m zipping up and down, right and left, forward and backward… It’s like I’ve already been swatted. All of a sudden, I find myself on the tip of the human’s nose. My eyelids are drooped, and my smile dreamy. I lift up on hind legs, rubbing my front two legs together.

            Then the human jerks back. I shoot back and then up. I land upside-down on the ceiling. I’m facing the window now and watch the human open it even further. He rolls his eyes and walks away.

            Have I won?

            I fly forward, a cool, damp wind covering me. I zip forward into the abyss when I hear a loud, sharp crack. The world becomes an electrifying white, my wings stop, and the sky falls away from me. 

               THE END