Mei Grows Tall

(july 27)

For several days, there has been a silent swarm of flies hovering in the center of our living/ dining room. It’s bad enough that there is a dingy, tiny shower, no privacy, and a bed that should not be shared with a mother – but flies too? Rough calculations say that there were 15-20. Once or twice I’ve just sat down and watched them, diving and charging each other like all the ships do in Star Wars. I had enough – I went went hunting.

We have no fly swatter, no chemically sprays or cleaners to shoot them with. So instead, I designed a highly sensitive device. A glass with conditioner squirted in the bottom, and someone’s folded electric bill served as a lid. i spent 40 mintues pouncing and slinging the cup around. My theory was that the conditioner was sticky enough for the flies to be caught, and thick enough that it wouldn’t slide out of the glass. I felt like a genius, but it was much more difficult than i anticipated. I only caught four of them, drown them in my cup, and flushed the whole cloudy mess down the toliet.  I am ruthless.