Patty's Weblog

I turn on the lamp and lay down to read. After awhile, sleepy-eyed, I reach up to turn off the light . . . oh! . . . the wall is covered with tiny fly-like creatures.

where do these bugs go when the light is off

do they gather into a loosely assembled ball of dusty wings and small fly bodies, a dust buggy under the bed

or crawl on my skin, entering my dreams as feathery monsters, always just out of sight (but I know they are there)

or return to their own separate cubbies in the room . . . on a shelf . . . one of the books . . . the teddy bear . . . the lurking gnome . . . each bug in its own spot, amenities included

or do they live for just one night, party late (faint cries of delight) then recede to tiny graves in the carpet, seeding a new generation to plaster the wall on a future night, in the light