I Killed A Fly Today
I killed a fly today. It was on my bedroom wall, not moving, still. I used an old magazine that was on my bedside table and I flattened the fly body against the wall.
I was working at the desk with my laptop open. My desktop is covered with tiny icons, different files that I’ve downloaded that I’m supposed to review. Some I just need to become familiar with. The special ones require a signature and return by fax. The files have begun to pile up. Every time I read one of these files, there are two or three more waiting to be downloaded. Death by information.
I guess I was feeling a bit overwhelmed.
Earlier, I had seen the fly on the far bedroom wall. He wasn’t buzzing; he was crawling along the frame of the window. I looked away to pick up the magazine to kill him, and when I looked back he was gone.
But I was patient. I returned to my desk and opened another file and pretended to read it. It was an Excel file full of names and numbers. I wasn’t reading it, though; I was waiting for the fly to show himself again. I was getting anxious but I didn’t let it show. I was patient.
Then I saw him out of the corner of my eye. I picked up the magazine and approached. The fly was on the wall, not moving, still. I swung the magazine and, like that, it was over.
“Yes!” I shouted. I may have given one of those little fist pumps.
What was left of him was stuck against the wall, and suddenly I felt a little bit bad about feeling good. I used the edge of the magazine to detach him. He left a smear. I put the fly and the magazine in the trash and cleaned the wall with my eco-friendly GreenClean spray cleaner. I returned to my desk. Nothing much had changed.
Too many flies; too many files.
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