Scan and Edit
The passage of his enormous younger brother produced thunderous booms from the stomping of his sneakers on the hallway floor as Caleb strode past the credenza with his face fixed with every sign of deliberate intent. Wherever he was headed, he was a boy on a mission.
Craig wanted to follow, but he couldn’t help but feel frightened and lost in the enormous world of his own home. Even his kid brother had become a horrifying monster out to obliterate him.
Of course, Craig knew that Caleb wasn’t out to get him – not really. Caleb was only being a typical boy that when faced with a pesky fly used any means at his disposal to eradicate the little pest.
“But I’m the pest,” Craig fretted and buzzed in helpless anguish.
He heard his brother’s footsteps pounding the stairs as his sibling made his way to the lower floor of the home.
“Just stay there,” Craig buzzed, still haunted by the near misses from the way Caleb had swung a rolled-up magazine at him.
With an automatic twitch, he activated his wings and rose from the surface of the ornate credenza.
Should he return to his room? Something about the more familiar surroundings appealed to the insecure little creature.
But what possible good would it do him? His fly body left him too small and weak to exert any physical actions on his transformation device. Activating the device on his own was impossible. For that, he still needed his brother.
While still hovering in midair, Craig heard the rapid pounding of sneakers on the stairs. The sound sent him into a frenzy as he realized Caleb was heading back.
When Caleb reached the landing, he stopped and surveyed the hallway, his blue eyes darting left and right. His right hand swung at his side, holding a long handle made of fused thin metal.
“I’ve got to try again,” Craig decided and flew toward his enormous sibling only to veer off when his eyes finally identified the object in his brother’s hand.
The long metal handle gripped tightly in Caleb’s fingers attached to a square-shaped crisscross of yellow plastic mesh that looked bigger than a basketball court to the tiny insect.
“Shit!” Craig panicked. “It’s the flyswatter!”
Craig recalled that their mother kept it hanging on a hook between the refrigerator and the wall, giving her easy access to it whenever the sacred borders of her kitchen were invaded by filthy, repulsive, disease-carrying flies and other insects. As a boy, he had taken gleeful delight whenever his mom allowed him to chase down and swat the occasional fly or gnat that made it into the kitchen.
Now, Caleb meant to do the same thing to him. To Craig’s horror, he realized his brother hadn’t given up on eliminating him. Caleb had merely gone downstairs in order to arm himself with a more effective arsenal.
His terror caused his wings to buzz more rapidly and more loudly. The sound acted as a beacon for Craig’s younger brother who immediately detected the sound and pinpointed the location of the hovering fly.
“There you are!” Caleb shouted as his eyes followed the darting movements of the small fly zipping along the hallway.
Craig panicked as Caleb’s looming form sprinted closer. His brain tried to analyze how something so huge could move so swiftly until his instincts kicked into play and forced him to flee. The boy lifted his arm and slashed the air with the lethal flyswatter. Although he didn’t even come close, his transformed brother felt the air currents shift and swirl as Caleb swung wildly in a determined effort to bring him down.
He easily evaded the first couple of attempts to swat him, but then the reality of his new metabolism exerted itself.
He weakened quickly. His wings barely had the endurance to keep him aloft. He had become so disoriented he didn’t even realize he had landed vertically on the wall between his room and Caleb’s room, secured in place by the clinging pads on his fly legs.
He tried to catch his breath and regain his strength, but he’d eaten nothing since his transformation and his energy reserves were dangerously low. He saw Caleb approaching from a weird angle until he adjusted his vision to take into account his vertical position on the wall.
“No,” he pleaded weakly. “Don’t do it.”
Caleb smirked. “You’re making this easy, bug.”
The heartless expression demoralized his transformed brother. “I’ve got to get away,” Craig realized and tried to take flight.
He hovered feebly only inches from the wall, but he couldn’t move fast this time.
The brutal business end of the flyswatter slammed into him and directed him back toward the wall, but he wasn’t faster than his brother’s arm. He screamed “No!” as the wall approached rapidly.
SPLAT!
The younger sibling chuckled at the grotesque smear on the otherwise immaculate wall. Lifting the flyswatter, some of the remains came away, too, sticking to the plastic mesh as grisly reminders. “Gross!” Caleb exclaimed and grimaced at the sickly sight.
“At least now I can focus on finding out what happened to Craig without being bothered by that pest!” Caleb declared in a victorious pronouncement.
Craig wanted to follow, but he couldn’t help but feel frightened and lost in the enormous world of his own home. Even his kid brother had become a horrifying monster out to obliterate him.
Of course, Craig knew that Caleb wasn’t out to get him – not really. Caleb was only being a typical boy that when faced with a pesky fly used any means at his disposal to eradicate the little pest.
“But I’m the pest,” Craig fretted and buzzed in helpless anguish.
He heard his brother’s footsteps pounding the stairs as his sibling made his way to the lower floor of the home.
“Just stay there,” Craig buzzed, still haunted by the near misses from the way Caleb had swung a rolled-up magazine at him.
With an automatic twitch, he activated his wings and rose from the surface of the ornate credenza.
Should he return to his room? Something about the more familiar surroundings appealed to the insecure little creature.
But what possible good would it do him? His fly body left him too small and weak to exert any physical actions on his transformation device. Activating the device on his own was impossible. For that, he still needed his brother.
While still hovering in midair, Craig heard the rapid pounding of sneakers on the stairs. The sound sent him into a frenzy as he realized Caleb was heading back.
When Caleb reached the landing, he stopped and surveyed the hallway, his blue eyes darting left and right. His right hand swung at his side, holding a long handle made of fused thin metal.
“I’ve got to try again,” Craig decided and flew toward his enormous sibling only to veer off when his eyes finally identified the object in his brother’s hand.
The long metal handle gripped tightly in Caleb’s fingers attached to a square-shaped crisscross of yellow plastic mesh that looked bigger than a basketball court to the tiny insect.
“Shit!” Craig panicked. “It’s the flyswatter!”
Craig recalled that their mother kept it hanging on a hook between the refrigerator and the wall, giving her easy access to it whenever the sacred borders of her kitchen were invaded by filthy, repulsive, disease-carrying flies and other insects. As a boy, he had taken gleeful delight whenever his mom allowed him to chase down and swat the occasional fly or gnat that made it into the kitchen.
Now, Caleb meant to do the same thing to him. To Craig’s horror, he realized his brother hadn’t given up on eliminating him. Caleb had merely gone downstairs in order to arm himself with a more effective arsenal.
His terror caused his wings to buzz more rapidly and more loudly. The sound acted as a beacon for Craig’s younger brother who immediately detected the sound and pinpointed the location of the hovering fly.
“There you are!” Caleb shouted as his eyes followed the darting movements of the small fly zipping along the hallway.
Craig panicked as Caleb’s looming form sprinted closer. His brain tried to analyze how something so huge could move so swiftly until his instincts kicked into play and forced him to flee. The boy lifted his arm and slashed the air with the lethal flyswatter. Although he didn’t even come close, his transformed brother felt the air currents shift and swirl as Caleb swung wildly in a determined effort to bring him down.
He easily evaded the first couple of attempts to swat him, but then the reality of his new metabolism exerted itself.
He weakened quickly. His wings barely had the endurance to keep him aloft. He had become so disoriented he didn’t even realize he had landed vertically on the wall between his room and Caleb’s room, secured in place by the clinging pads on his fly legs.
He tried to catch his breath and regain his strength, but he’d eaten nothing since his transformation and his energy reserves were dangerously low. He saw Caleb approaching from a weird angle until he adjusted his vision to take into account his vertical position on the wall.
“No,” he pleaded weakly. “Don’t do it.”
Caleb smirked. “You’re making this easy, bug.”
The heartless expression demoralized his transformed brother. “I’ve got to get away,” Craig realized and tried to take flight.
He hovered feebly only inches from the wall, but he couldn’t move fast this time.
The brutal business end of the flyswatter slammed into him and directed him back toward the wall, but he wasn’t faster than his brother’s arm. He screamed “No!” as the wall approached rapidly.
SPLAT!
The younger sibling chuckled at the grotesque smear on the otherwise immaculate wall. Lifting the flyswatter, some of the remains came away, too, sticking to the plastic mesh as grisly reminders. “Gross!” Caleb exclaimed and grimaced at the sickly sight.
“At least now I can focus on finding out what happened to Craig without being bothered by that pest!” Caleb declared in a victorious pronouncement.
