The Musings Of An Insect

 The hazy sun pierced through the clouds, the wet leaves an enemy to most but a safe haven for me. There are so many of my kind that you would never be mistaken for what I am but who I am. There’s no such thing as individuality because we don’t live long enough to see the sunrise for more than 30 days. For us it is no crime to die this early, humans on other hand always seem to find a reason to try to extend their lives as much as possible. Immortality through writing or deed. Though eventually all lose to Father Time. How amusing a mere fly, viewed as a pest by these humans is able to realize such a basic concept that permeates all of our world and these humans with love and relationships cannot see past one another. How funny. How hilarious. Buzzzzzz. 

I view the world fragmented(literally), through a broken lense, but this girl I see in front of me is broken. Torn in half like a chasm. I believe her name was Kya, an odd name from humans I think. Bzzzzzz. It seems as though this girl needed something or someone. Bruises cover her body, tears stream down her face, the white sand all over her body. I would’ve felt sad if I could. So I begin to ask my fellow flies, “who is this girl?”. Apparently she was somewhat of a folktale among us houseflies. She was called the Marsh Girl. Her home was a little shack on the outskirts of the swamp but far removed from any of her kind passing by. From a young age our ancestors watched as her family left to go on their journey until it was just her, a young ten year old girl. She seemed to cope, but with our eyes we could tell the needed something. Attention. That’s probably why she was so attached to that boy. It was clear from the beginning that the boy wanted to exploit her. Though I don’t know. Flies don’t study the intricacies of human relationships. But we were able to glean the words “And somewhere within, she worried she was also a piece of beach art, a curiosity to be turned over in his hands, then tossed back on the sand."(Pg 282). How interesting that she allowed for emotions to control her, to constantly feel the need to be attached from the lack of attention she has felt throughout the entirety of her “short” life. 

Her desire to be wanted, to feel another lead her to where she is now. Whether it is a crime or not, who knows. All I know and understand is that she already had a partner in her life that could give her more than anyone else. As illustrated in the lines "Kya had been of this land and of this water; now they would take her back. Keep her secrets deep." (Pg 320) She was more similar to us than any other human. She was more marsh than any housefly. Bzzzzzzzz

Though it is quite interesting, there is another tale. One that comes from so long ago us flies cannot even fathom its age. The tale of Oedpius, a tragic tale, of an individual who could not escape from his need to know, his need for attention and egoism overpowering. This need resulted in the death of his mother and father along with the gouging of his own to eyeballs in guilt. All because his overwhelming need for knowledge had to be sated. His desire to understand, to be wanted, much like Kya led to his tragic conclusion. Oedpius is warned constantly “How dreadful the knowledge of the truth can be  When there’s no help in truth.”. He is told not to seek the truth but chooses to do so out of his own selfish desire. Kya did much the same. Out of her selfish desire she sought a toxic relationship with an abusive man that resulted in her state. It’s interesting how much humans seek something within one another. I wouldn’t know, I’m just a housefly. Though perhaps humans should view the world beyond themselves a little differently. Then maybe there wouldn’t be millions of these stories playing out across the world every day. But I wouldn’t know I am just a fly. Bzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz