“Greta, I’m so glad we are doing this.”
“Me, too, Cecile.” Greta brushed one of her legs reassuringly against her friend as they scurried uphill to the heart of the university, the ornate, church-like building that housed the bursar’s office.
“I hope Jude wasn’t lying about the smorgasbord of treats.”
“You’ve seen Jude, do you think he’s lying?”
“He is the fattest cockroach I’ve ever seen.” Cecile laughed again.
“Okay. No more chatter. We need to make it inside before the brightest light comes out.”
~~~
At the top of the hill, Cecile and Greta surveyed the lowest above ground stones of the cathedral of financial services. They tapped their antenna on the stone, detecting only solid rock.
“Is this the place?” Cecile whispered.
“How would I know? I’ve never been here,” Greta snapped peevishly.
“Ladies, at last,” a breathless voice greeted them from a gap between two stones. “Come in. Come in. I saved a couple good crumbs for you.”
The girls exchanged a look, but the sweetness of his breath offered reassurance. They squeezed through the narrow crack in the mortar. After scurrying through manynarrow tunnels, they finally stepped out into a larger opening.
“Welcome, ladies,” a couple of chubby cockroaches cheered, raising large crumbs in salute.
“Thanks,” Greta and Cecile mumbled titling their heads toward the concrete floor shyly.
Jude shuffled away, only to return with two giant crumbs of pastry. “You will love this. Trust me.”
They nibbled tentatively at first and then devoured the crumbs with gusto. Jude laughed at their enthusiasm and waddled off to get refills. He kept bringing more until they finally waved him off, begging for a moment to rest their digestive systems.
~~~
Days passed in this manner, enjoying the crumbs brought back by more adventurous roaches until they feared becoming cockroach piñatas. But this time, Greta and Cecile wanted to find their own repast. Today, they would see more of their new world and earn heir keep. As they skittered across the floor, it rumbled under their feet. Over the past couple of weeks, they learned that vibrations such as these warned them of the movement of humans through the halls. Movement this subtle, however, assured them that only one lone human stayed to work into the twilight. They moved away from the source of the rumbling, following a trail of crumbs so small even the most meticulous janitor would miss them.
At the end of the trail, they discovered an overturned trash bin. Beside it, alluring odors wafted from an open box. The two friends couldn’t resist feasting. Finally sated, they grabbed as much as they could carry and headed back toward the nest. As they passed an open door, a shadow fell across their path. Cecile and Greta looked up in alarm, clutching their spoils closer.
Long dark hair cascaded across the towering human’s face as she yelped in surprise and darted into the open doorway. Cecile and Greta barely had time to exchange glances before the woman returned. In her hand, she held an enormous cylinder. Cecile and Greta dropped their food, covered their faces, and curled into themselves as the intense breeze emitted by the can swept them down the hallway. The obscenities didn’t stop raining down on them until they come to rest ten feet from where they started. The human disappeared back into her office. The door loudly banged closed.
The friends tried to find their feet, but sluggishness overtook their limbs. They reached for each other. Somehow they mustered enough energy to touch their front legs together.
“Cecile, we shouldn’t have gone adventuring.”
“As delicious as adventures are, we clearly weren’t made for them.”
They laughed hoarsely, feeling the world around them dimming as their bodies betrayed them. In those last moments, Greta and Cecile realized entering the light had been a bad idea. Up until this point, they had led the perfect life. Scurrying about in the dark. Collecting scraps of food that fall to the floor or roll under the fridge or stove. The latter brought Greta greater joy as they slowly roasted toward becoming charcoal every time the oven turned on. Sometimes they even rolled into some grease or crumbs and garnered extra flavor. Now they waited to die on the cold tile floor as poison seeped through their veins and caused their limbs to jitter uncontrollably.
“Cecile, we shouldn’t have let academia and its pleasures tempt us.” Greta’s mind can’t acknowledge that she has already said something similar to this as her vision finally fades to nothing.
“Yes, my friend. We should have known they would have the wisdom to think taking our lives would make their world better.”
Rushing footsteps and excited voices drown out the final tiny cockroach sobs.
~A dear friend requested that I write on this particular topic in April of 2018. I am a slacker who must do penance. Since her birthday is on Sunday, I crafted this little gift. Happy birthday to the President of the Nerdy Grinch Fan Club. I hope you get a chance to use a protractor and pinch some green cheeks.~
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