A Day In the Life Of a Cricket

by Marie Lynn Cadoc
1st Place, KidPub's Spring 2008 Writing Contest

I crouch, unseen, hidden amongst the underbrush. My minuscule body is unnoticeable among the ferns and bushes and spiky grass that grows wildly in the forest. A sleepy silence has fallen, broken only by the occasional rustle of the plants.
I decide it is time to chirp - play that mysterious, thrilling melody that all male crickets like myself do. By rubbing my forelegs together, I create the beautiful music, entrancing nearby insects, who all pause in their tracks to listen.
My chirp has no particular rhythm or organization to it. I simply make it up as I go along. The tune changes and twists and goes up and down, smoothly flowing along, unpredictable, and that's the way I like it.
Eventually the sun begins to rise. The colors stain the sky, smearing it with mauves and golds and lilacs and faint pinks.
Tirelessly I continue to chirp, unaware that it is daytime. I hardly take notice of the time of day. It doesn't seem important. It can't help seeming ridiculously trivial when the world is full of dangers that never rest.
Humans are an enormous problem. They are forever stomping around, oblivious to the fact that other smaller things don't want to be disturbed, screaming loudly when they see any insect, (which really hurts our delicate ears, in case they didn't know) and smashing us. FYI, humans, we don't like being smashed.
Other animals pose another threat, if not a slightly smaller one. Frogs, for instance, think we prove a delicious snack. It's night impossible to escape their long, sticky, greedy tongues. Salamanders think the same way, as do lizards and arachnids.
"HEY, DALTON!" screams a human voice. "COME LOOK AT THIS!" My ears, placed on my legs, throb with the noise.
"WHAT?" replies another voice, equally loudly.
"THERE'S THIS LITTLE ANT ARMY, COME LOOK!"
I froze with terror as two human children, one boy and one girl, race into the forest and skid to a stop in front of a large boulder covered with an army of ants.
"They're carrying little crystal things," says the girl in a softer tone. "Look it - see those little tiny crystal things on their heads - and there's a big pile over there."
"They're eggs, Elaina," corrected the boy named Dalton.
"Who cares? Let's take some."
"Why?"
Elaina replies in a somewhat evil voice, "I like to see them scramble around."
"Okay. Grab a little bit."
I hope you haven't forgotten me. I am sitting here, being perfectly still and utterly silent, fearing for my life. An icy terror numbs my legs and prevents me from escaping to safety. One thing is running through my tiny mind. Stay hidden, stay hidden, stay hidden, stay hidden...
Those boorish human children reach out greedily and scoop up a great amount of the ant eggs, chuckling to themselves.
"Look at them scramble!" laughs Dalton. His voice rings unpleasantly through my ears and I take a step backwards, further into the underbrush.
"Stupid ants!" Elaina crows.
Truthfully, I'm not surprised. Humans never consider the feelings of the smaller insects to be of any significance. They suppose that since we're so tiny we don't have any feelings anyway.
That's not true.
Sometimes I wish wistfully that I was bigger, the size of a human. They wouldn't dare come near us, let alone steal our eggs and squish us to death. But unfortunately that's not the way nature is.
The poor ants scurry about, avoiding the chubby human fingers as they scrape up the last of their eggs. I pity them. They are even smaller than I, and do not have strong legs to propell them through the air, like I do.
"Let's stomp on them!" says Dalton.
They drop the fragile eggs to the ground and stomp on them, grinding them into the forest floor, destroying them. I wince as the feet come dangerously close to my hiding spot.
When the children are done with their evil deed, they run out of sight, laughing heartily.
I breathe deeply in relief. They didn't spot me. They didn't even come near me. Now I can chirp again, I think happily.
I start up again my lovely, shrill little melody which everything living thing that teems in the forest enjoys listening to. Then -
Elaina steps out of shadow, her eyes starry and her cheeks rosy.
"I love that music," she says dreamily. "The cricket's music. So peaceful."
She searches for the source of the noise. Since she is a good distance away from me, I continue to play it, disregarding her completely.
"Aha!" she cries, stepping into the brush.
I freeze. My blood runs cold. Instantly I spring out of the underbrush, land on the carpet of pine needles that covers the forest floor, and wildly begin to hop away.
"Cricket -" Elaina wails. "Come back -" She races after me, panting. I can feel the vibration of her feet as they slam against the ground.
I speedily swerve and go the other direction. If there's anything I know for sure, it is that larger things cannot change directions as quickly. My only hope is to keep abruptly switching directions.
She turns and follows me, her panting growing louder as she becomes weary from chasing.
I suddenly veer and go between her legs. It takes her longer to turn around and head the other way. Seeing my opening, I dive into a thick path of dead grass. My sleek yellowish-brownish color blends impeccably with the grass.
"I'll get you!" yells Elaina. My ears throb from her voice. "I know you're here somewhere!" She pulls something clear and plastic and light from her pocket. It is a Ziplock bag.
I stand stock-still. She can't possibly find me here, I think hopefully. But she saunters in my direction and begins to crawl in the grass, looking around. Finally her pudgy fingers scrape against my body.
I shoot off like a bullet! I feel as though I were flying through the air! There was no possible way that Elaina will be able to keep up my incredible speed! Surely enough, she is far behind.
Once I am far from her, I settle down on the ground and prepare to start my chirping again. It is my only hobby, and I love it dearly. It takes me only a few seconds to realize that Elaina is towering over me with the Ziplock bag at the ready.
Oh, no!
"Gotcha!" she yells triumphantly, and scoops me into the bag. I struggle fiercely, leaping about, feeling the sides of the bag press on either side of me. The top of it is zipped close - there is no way out. I can see only the faint, fuzzy outlines of objects and smears of indiscernible color. In addition to that, the bag is constantly flopping around, jiggling about, and shaking as the human girl skips merrily out of the forest and to her colossal house.
As we enter the house, I can see other humans walking around. I smell sweet and delicious foods.
"HI MOM!" Elaina practically screams. The noise is blissfully muffled by the bag. Maybe it's a good thing that it forms a barrier between me and the rest of the world.
"Hi sweetie!" was the pleasant reply. "What have you got there?"
"A cricket!"
The other voice sounded revolted. "A bug? Oh, Elaina. When are you going to learn that bugs will live longer outside and have a better life outside?"
Elaina put her face up beside my own. If I had a voice I would've screamed. "No. This cricket will live a long, happy life with me. Won't you, crickie?"
Absolutely not.
"It'll be dead in the next few hours," said the voice. "Let it go."
Elaina sounded upset. "But - but -"
"LET IT GO."
"FINE!"
Elaina stormed out of the house, her brow furrowed, her face purple with anger. She ripped open the bag and was about to thrust me into the yard when her face softened and she said quietly, "Sorry, cricket. I'll put you down gently." And she did.
For a moment we both stood there, motionless.
"Goodbye," she said.
I hopped away, relieved and glad to be returning to my home in the forest. Night was falling quickly, covering everything in darkness. I glanced back at her and chirped a short, sweet little melody, just for her.
Her face brightened and she waved.
Goodbye.