When the nymph was born it seemed like the world was his fruit basket. He emerged from a cliff as the sun warmed the mountains. It was Spring and it was beautiful.
The Nymph spread his wings and flew to the nearest field where he landed and ate and ate and ate. He spent the spring and summer growing and eating the various fruits that grew in the field.
One morning when he awoke a giant, with a broad straw hat and almond eyes, reached toward him a picked the fruit he was resting on. The nymph, who had now grown into an adult beetle, could not get away and was thrown into a large basket. Inside he could hear the whispers of other bugs and wondered where this basket was going.
Suddenly the basket lurched and bounced toward a large black cave. Inside, the fruit and the beetle, were dumped on a large conveyor. As other giants turned and inspected the various fruits, the beetle had to jump and dodge their busy hands. He did not fly away because he was afraid they would seem him and that would be that. He did take some solace in the fact that if he was squished, a funky odor would follow. An odor so foul that it turned the noses on even the biggest mammals.
As the beetle rode the conveyor and dodged the hands he saw where he was headed. It was another big box. Before he could be caught, he flew inside. No sooner was he inside when the lid closed and the box was jostled and shaken for what felt like an eternity until it did not shake anymore. Everything was still but not silent. The little bug could hear the sound of water and gulls. He was in the ocean. Another eternity past and the bug fell asleep.
He woke up when a man, in a blue uniform wearing a badge, opened the box. The bug could not read very well but it looked like the badge said “Customs”. The beetle did not like the look of that badge so he spread his wings and flew away as fast as he could. It was not until he saw a field of green stalks and yellow fruit that he finally landed. Famished from all the flying he dug into the fruit.
While he ate another beetle like himself showed up behind him, a female, and when you think you are the last bug on earth we all know what happened next.
After his cigarette and a drink, the bug decided it was time to hibernate so he flew to a strange-looking cliff. The cliff was square, with ribbed white sides and a triangle on top. The beetle shrugged and found a crevasse to squeeze into.
Once inside he saw three giants sitting and eating. The youngest looked up and screamed. The biggest of the three grabbed a strange white object that looked like a very small flag. The giant wrapped the white thing around the beetle and the last thing he felt were the walls closing in around him as his guts shot through his mouth.
The last thing he heard was, “Gotcha!” and “oh, my god it stinks”, and as we know, the joke is on us.
