Yikes!
Just a routine middle of the night trip to the bathroom. But this hellspawn was waiting for me.
Getaway
He runs for the baseboard. I can only stand there watching as he somehow flattens and sqeezes himself underneath.
HIDE AND SEEK
It's a dead end. I hear him rattling around, looking for an exit. My options: 1. Pretend it didn't happen, or 2. Get the work gloves, pull off the baseboard, and grab him. OK, I'm cowardly AND lazy; it's option 1.
The Better Part of Valor
Ashamed, I slink back to the bedroom, telling myself he only wants to earn a living devouring the local vermin. But fingers crossed my wife never lays eyes (or toes!) on him.
DEUS EX MACHINA
Forgot about my WalMart grabber! (Recent spine surgery.) Redemption? I run to the hall; he could already be making his break.
GOTCHA!
He's out! He sees me and runs, but I've got the nerve AND the reach.
FOND FAREWELL
Funny how sweet he looks now that I'm safe. I send him away, hopefully never to return.
Notes and Comments
- True story, but some dramatic license taken:
- The bug was portrayed as an American Giant Centipede. Ours was a House Centipede, also big and scary, but not as cinematic.
- The weirder lie is in the last panel where I'd planned the the Money Shot-the captured bug, head twisted back, biting the grabber's jaws. ChatGPT refused to depict a forcibly confined animal, so I used a toy.
- He was unharmed. The grabber trigger controls allow for a gentle grasp.
Art for this story is in the style of the Singularity that was Spain Rodriguez. Please read about him in the Artists Gallery.