Fly Times

 “Fly Times,” By Maldys Shrubb

 

    Buzz Fly performed his fly agenda with persistence and gusto.  He sailed across a man's bedroom constantly, pursing the sweat and dried skin cells off the man's body while he laid on a bed and played with his cell phone.  The man would try to angrily swat at Buzz Fly as it dive bombed him, however, the fly was quite adept at eluding the man's clumsy swats.  The man constantly and loudly complained about being the frequent victim of the fly's busy agenda.   

    The man would call friends and distant relatives in an effort for advice, comfort, and counsel in the matter of disposing of his insect antagonist.  Many of the man's friends and family were extremely disconcerted with his calls and text messages.  They feared that he was losing his grip on reality, and that a simple fly had dominion over him.  Sometimes they would mail him gifts, such as fruit baskets and meat platters.  None of them could muster the courage to visit the man, who showed signs of being constantly in the throes of hysteria. 

    The fruit baskets and meat platters would often go uneaten and left out by the man, who was becoming increasingly despondent.  Buzz Fly assumed that these platters were meant for him, as a gift for paying the man so much attention.  To Buzz Fly, the man was a god; large, providing, and imposing.  To the man, the fly was a devil; adroit, clever, and able to perceive the world in a more dynamic way (with his compound eyes.)  Man, and fly shared a relationship that bridged the world between low and high forms of life.  They maintained a constant dance of swatting and landing, became symbolic of the maelstrom that is our global society.  Humans, and all other creatures of the world. 

    The man was unemployed, after working for years in a prestigious floor cleaning company.  Buzz Fly was gainfully employed in the fly hierarchy as a top tier government agent.  Buzz fly would frequently listen to the man spout nonsense from an easy chair about his own government.  The man complained about the state of healthcare and the use of military action in other parts of the world.  Buzz Fly found this puzzling, as his government had a zero-tolerance policy on subversives and dissenters.  Buzz Fly found that this gave him carte blanche to aggressively land on him.   

    On many occasions Buzz Fly would fly near the man's ear and whisper buzzing into his ear.  While the author can only roughly translate the language of the house fly, the translation was approximately:  “Your government is here to help you.  You must find employment and seek to be a contributing member of society.  I've also invited a lady friend.  She is pregnant and will be using the old bologna you haven't discarded, as a breeding ground for our young.” 

THE END