It was a hot summer night. The mercury was rising steadily and the fan over head provided no respite from the heat. Not withstanding the heat, I got out of bed to get a drink of water. Fortunately, the fridge had a small bottle, filled with ice cold water. As the water trickled down my throat, I felt my body cool down a bit. Relieved, I dragged myself to bed, still half asleep. And that’s when I saw it.
There are very few things I’m scared of in this world. Even as a kid, no one could bully me. I have stood up to teachers in school, twice my size, when it was considered a taboo to even talk back to them. Having said that, I must give credit to one of nature’s creatures, about an inch or so long, which can make me jump, run, dance and what not; all this with just one swish of its antenna. Yup, I’m talking about the invincible cockroach. Cockroaches have crawled over the earth since the first man (probably even before him). Uninvited guests, they take over your house and refuse to move out. I read somewhere that cockroaches are probably the only creatures which have not evolved much over the centuries (Yes, I did read up on them… you know what they say; keep your friends close and your enemies closer). Despite having evolved slowly they have terrorized the world, just imagine if they had evolved normally with us; they would probably be ruling the world by now. Makes you want to shudder, isn’t it?
Far from shudder, my stiff muscles had become incapable of any movement, having spotted a roach on my night stand. Earlier, I had wished that the heat would lessen, but drained of all heat, I was nothing close to relieved. Wide awake now, I frantically looked around for something to help me. The breeze from the window right above my night stand was gently pushing the curtain over it. Irritated at being disturbed, the roach turned around, to face me. Petrified, I reached down to grasp the first thing I could lay my hands on. My fingers touched cold steel and I picked it up, slowly. My eyes, having now adjusted to the dimness, saw, what seemed to be a canister of mosquito spray. Having found my weapon, my confidence returned. This roach, had dared to encroach my sacred corner and I wasn’t going to let it get away with it. The cockroach meanwhile, having witnessed all this, had made plans of its own, its antennae twitching rapidly. Battle lines were drawn. I waited for a few seconds and then went for my kill.
What followed was not the outcome I had hoped for. As I lunged forward, the roach leapt off the stand and the spray barely touched it. These agile little pests move around, with no more sense of direction than a bolt of lightening. Bewildered, I looked down to try and find it and realized to my horror that it was headed straight for my feet! My behaviour had been far from friendly and it had marked its target.
As I discovered later, pitch is directly proportional to the extent of fear (This new theory, is my humble contribution to the science of acoustics). Involuntarily I jumped onto my bed, closed my eyes and let out the shrillest shriek possible. I heard a thud and then, silence. Light filtering through my lids, prompted me to open them. As I blinked to adjust to the brightness, I saw some very upset faces. Yup, raised eyebrow and clenched teeth could mean only that. As I was being reprimanded, I looked around on the ground. The roach was gone. It was probably hiding away in some dark corner of the room, smirking, waiting to strike again.
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