I read a story once, where the main character turned into a cockroach. As my classmates argued about allegories and the unbearable weight of banality, I doodled a bug in my notebook. The story made no sense at all.
In the yellow light of the bathroom’s naked bulb, an overturned cockroach wiggled feeble legs. “I feel ya,” I mumbled through toothpaste foam.
Maybe I finally understood the allegory, ten years too late. I rinsed. The plastic case of floss judged me from the cracked edge of the sink.
I flicked the cockroach right side up and stuffed myself into the only clean pair of scrubs left. Mr. Denovan, a human cockroach if I ever saw one, had a notorious gag reflex and I’d drawn the short straw yesterday. He’d bucked and swayed in the chair as I inserted the tray for his dental molds, and then he’d leaned over and puked. On me. So, yeah, I was seeing the appeal of roach life.
This story was first published on Grim & Gilded on January 31, 2023.