Are You Buggin'?

I told her that I knew what it felt like, to be a bug. The look of disgust was written across their foreheads, and yet, I pitied them. They had no idea what it was like to see the world from down here, to feel so small and so full of wonder. I was trapped inside my shell and no matter how many times I attempted to break free, my efforts were fruitless. Most of the time going belly up. I like a fish out of water, like a cockroach squirming his legs while stuck on his back, I was lost with a stranger sense of familiarity. Like I had been lost this way before.

In a world that has no different tempo other than full speed ahead, most of us spend our whole lives playing catch up. And everyday we grow, we learn, we experience. And everyday we bring with us to the next a little extra baggage to carry. That is our past; that is what makes us who we are. What I carried on my back formed into a hard shell, keeping me isolated from the rest of the world. My parents, who were immediately appalled by my transformation, tried to squash me, Luckily, that shell made up of all that baggage; that is what made me strong.

Even when I was human, my father and I had difficulty communicating. However, now no one could understand me! Words were spewing from my mouth and my lips couldn’t keep them in. It didn't matter what I said or did, my father exiled me like the pest I have become. Thrown again into a cage, I felt comfortable again. I was snug in my shackles, just the way I liked it. I was home. Suddenly, I realized we were all bugs.