The Petty Dweller

Petty dwellers hide from the sun, steal from the moon, and trip round the planet. Tonight, one little rebel is coming out to play.

Playing is actually everything about having fun. It`s the fun that counts. Time not limited. Injuries not counted. Yet Tarko knows this game isn`t the regular one. It could get pretty gory. If you`re caught, you get binned. If you fail, you get crashed - harsh - straight to your death. But it`s fun, when you can play and die any minute, and Tarko knows this game is well worth playing, especially with an opponent so nice and innocent.

Tarko admires the lady as much as the word itself. Innocent. It plays in his mouth like a piece of fine mint. Fresh and exotic, if he should find words to describe it. As he watch, the lady turns around to face him. She talks with such jubilant, a ray of sun shines onto her round face making her look almost like a fairy. He smiles back, but even if he couldn`t see the smile himself down low, Tarko knows it must be warm, and the lady`s heart must be touched.

He looks down at the grass, and up again, eyes wide, smiling pathetically to himself. If someone look closely they could see tears forming right inside them. Don`t think creatures like him could actually do that, huh? What about the smile? Would anyone care to even look? Would she? Nobody would. Nobody could, besides, not without a magnifying glass and a wish to dirty the hands, which no beauty like her should do. Tarko looks down, ashamed of his self-pity. But looking to the right at the large pool of shadow shading the ground, suddenly a gush of blood runs up his chocolate chest. Tarko`s feeling confident.

He can own the shadow, own the lover, propose to the lady. After all, this thing is not about a regular creature playing a regular game. This is the task, and to complete it he needs to gather up his strength.

The sun, he can see, is setting from the angle he dwells on. Time to work. You see, life`s all about cruelty and getting some fun juice out of it, his father used to say. Time to play.

And so the happy couple rejoiced, and remained that way through the rest of the day. They might even get married someday, though that sort of discussion should be reserved for another time. The petty dweller smiles again, this time she can clearly see it, and all the ones around the park, if they will glance their way. The evening ends in a sweet note, with a lovely couple in sight. Nobody notices a dark little creature sliding aimlessly off and round the ground. But after all, it`s just a cockroach, and that`s the way life is to be.