Bug

By Gene Lass

Chkx crawled along the wood, which had been warm, but was rapidly cooling as the sun set and the shade grew. Everything was growing cooler, including Chkx herself. While she preferred cool and dark, it was becoming uncomfortably, though not yet dangerously cold at night. She sensed warmth ahead, and moisture, and kept crawling, seeking their comfort.

            She followed the flow of warm air through a tiny crevice that was a tight fit, but manageable. While it was dark in the crevice it was bright on the other side, and much warmer. She crawled down a hard, cool surface before entering a vast plain of deep, bushy fibers. Were she to try, she could burrow down among them, but, using her segmented body and her dozens of legs, she was able to easily skim along the top, taking in details of everything around her – the light, the temperature, the humidity, and the possible presence of food.

            Over time she made her way across the plain to a dark, hard, vertical surface. She walked along it, finally finding a gap big enough for her to enter and explore.

            Settling in, she laid her eggs and searched for food when needed, encountering juicy silverfish, tiny red and black ants, and occasional spiders. Over time, she ate all the ants, and the number of silverfish dwindled, so she had to venture forth beyond the dark safety of her new home.

            She followed her dark tunnelspace a long way, sometimes turning in several tight corners, until she found another gap much like the one she initially entered. She climbed out, but this time, instead of crawling down across the bushy plain she crawled up, scaling a smooth, white surface, crawling higher and higher, until it changed direction and she found herself still crossing a smooth white surface, but upside down, her back high above the bushy plain below.

            She crawled to a corner, where she found a strand of web, but no spider. The chemical sensors in her antennae told her there had been no spider near that web for some time, not anything else that would resemble food.

            Hungry, but not yet starving, Chkx headed out across the white surface and decided to get her bearings. The shaggy plain might have ants or other insects hidden inside, but it would be difficult for her to get between the fibers to get at them. Perhaps she should continue looking for spiders in other corners.

            As she pondered, she sensed a familiar vibration. Something she had felt and heard before, when she was in her dark space. But this time, as she clung to the white surface, for the first time, she saw the source of the vibration – a massive creature, hundreds of times taller than Chkx herself. Bigger than any spider, bigger than a mouse or even a rat. It walked below her, looked up at her, then walked away.

            Chkx didn’t know what to do. She couldn’t eat it. It didn’t threaten her. So, she stayed still.

            After a moment, the creature returned. It reached out toward Chkx, and when it was close, there was a horrible noise and a sudden wind. She was sucked into a small space, where she landed on her back amidst bits of dust and hair.

            As she struggled onto her feet, she saw the space she was in wasn’t part of the creature, but something else. She watched helplessly as the creature carried her away and put the object with her inside down on the ground before walking away.

            Chkx thought about what to do. There didn’t seem to be any threats in the small space, and she could survive for a long time without food, but she was still hungry, and she couldn’t eat dust or hair.

            Tentatively, she tried to scale the sides of the container, but found it too slick. However, there was a central part of it that had footholds. Taking her time, she climbed the core, then found her way down a long, dark passage, which was blocked with soft material. While it wasn’t food, she found her mandibles could easily shred it.

            And so Chkx chewed, working her way through the material and out to freedom, escaping after the room became dark. She climbed out, then across the ground, a ground that was smooth and cool, until she made her way back to the fuzzy plain, which was light.

            She made her way across the fuzzy plain, until she saw the lower part of the giant creature. Carefully, she climbed on the creature’s leg and crawled upward, marveling at how long the leg went on. She continued, slowly, slowly trying not to attract attention, until she reached the top of its leg. Its head was tilted back, mouth open, and a roaring noise was coming out of it. It wasn’t moving.

            Chkx continued climbing, upward past the midsection, closer to the head. It didn’t have mandibles, but it seemed to have teeth. It was dark in its mouth. Dark and warm. And Chkx was hungry. So hungry.

            Made brave by hunger, and perhaps curiosity, comforted by the dark, Chkx entered the mouth, avoiding the teeth, and began to chew.