Monday, August 22, 2005

Repressed Memory

I totally forgot about this incident from Sunday morning...It must have been too painful to remember, I must have buried just slightly more than 24 hours deep in my subconscious...But this morning it came flooding back, resulting in a few bloodcurdling shrieks, some tears, and hopefully,a catharthsis...Anyway, I must share it with you... I had arrived home after my night of work at the Blueberry, I had safely traversed Lake Shore Drive, Hollywood/Ridge Road, Pratt Ave and Wolcott Ave. And docked Clementine in her parking space had safely traveled up the 18 or so stairs up to the rear entrance to the apartment I share with my Special Lady and my two cats...But as I crossed the landing to my door, something didn't feel quite right, there was a eerie calm...I chalked it up to my nerves about the upcoming season of "Project Runway", and opened the screen door that protects the wood door that serves as the entrance to my abode...That's when it happened...First I heard it...This sickening buzzing ,clicking sound...I fumbled for my keys, begging to God, Buddha, Vishnu, whomever might be up at this hour, that the correct key find the keyhole in...But it was too late, The buzzing and clicking got louder, and I felt the thud against the back of my head...I was under attack by a cicada..."Christ" I screamed(admittedly, I am quite the coward) and tried again to open the door, that's when I saw the moth hovering around the lightbulb that serves to illuminate our apartment rear entrance, just fluttering around crashing into the bulb like some sort of insect to a flame, well, I guess not SORT OF like an insect to a flame, but EXACTLY like an insect to a flame, or exactly like a moth to a lightbulb..."Will he join the fight ? " I asked myself...Do cicadas and moths work together ? Was he a clever ruse, so that I would look up at him, exposing my soft throat flesh to the cicada for the easy kill ? I was not in the mood to find out, as the cicada made his second attack on the back of my skull, my key finally found purchase, and I swung the door open, I made one rather weak swipe behind me at the cicada and rushed inside...I then spent approximately the next fifteen to twenty minutes doing a rather undignified dance that consisted of pumping my legs up and down, and alternating between running my hands through my hair(to make sure the cicada hadn't hitched a ride) and flailing my arms at my side( picture the audition dance done by Jennifer Beals in "Flashdance" being performed by someone with electrodes attached to their genitals)...Then I slowly moved to the living room and collapsed on the couch...Apparently, my last swing before enering the apartment, was more deadly than I realized at the time, for in the morning, there outside the door was a dead cicada, with a long strand of gray hair in it's gnarled teeth...I didn't say anything of the attack to my Special Lady when she pointed out the dead insect ,as I did not remember it, but I remember it now...And I will see it my dreams...Forever....

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

You and my friend should form a support group for survisors of cicada attacks. He spent 15 minutes pulled over on the expressway, trying to remove from his car the f**cker that had flown in there and thwacked him in the side of his head. As if rush hour didn't suck enough. I thought I was not brave about insects, but oh was my friend in need of a beer when he finally arrived at mi casa, with the then-dead cicada still in the car.

Paticus said...

A cicada attack in a moving car ? I would have been dead for sure, and I probably would have caused a CHiPs style pileup on the Drive as well...Tell your friend to be strong...I sure am trying to be...But it's hard...Those things are horrific !! I'm getting the "creepy skin" just thinking about it...Bath time !!!

Anne said...

"while crickets and cicadas sing, a rare and different tune...terrapin station"