The quicksilvers dart around on the bath mat around my feet as I sit on the toilet in the evening. They are exactly the same colour as the grey slate floor tiles and I only notice them at night as they scuttle around in the artificial light of the overhead 100 watt bulb. I've seen three of them at one time so now have established that there must be a family residing in the cracks rather than my previous observations of only one of the little future pods. I named the first one Freddy Mercury as not only did he look like the elemental silvery seamless liquid, but he glided gracefully across the floor in a suitably metallic, robotic fashion. They are something reminiscent of the flying machine in 'Flight of the navigator', only earthbound, mute, underlined with plenty of scurrying legs and far less troublesome. I've never seen them before but now I've discovered that they all seem to be living in my bathroom.
E: Have you seen those silvery bugs in the bathroom?
Me: I know! What the fuck are they? I've never seen them before.
E: Yeah me neither, they look like mercury.
Me: Yeah they do, they kind of move like it too. I like them though.
E: Yeah me too.
I've grown quite fond of them now. I always look out for them and enjoy studying their little movements, each time trying to spot more to get the number up to four. Careful footsteps are needed as to not squash them, they are obviously endangered or something as i've never seen or heard about them before, and just like fish, I know bugs. Maybe they are trying to repopulate from the safety that my bathroom sanctuary offers, or maybe they can only survive here as the slate tiles provide the right exact shade of grey that is needed to match their silvery backs and give them the perfect camouflage habitat. Ive tried googling them to no avail.
All I really know about them is that I am glad they are there.
1 year ago
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5 comments:
There's tiny bugs the live between the tiles at my place of work. They are about 5mm long and thin and move as though they have a hundred joints in their bodies because it's so fluid.
They make toilet time more interesting. I haven't seen one in ages though. I hope they haven't fallen victim to Cleaner Genocide.
H
x
Ah i see, the bugs in my bathroom don't need to worry about cleaner genocide as that sort of thing doesn't happen very often. Haha.
However my flatmate did flood the bathroom by forgetting about her running bath the other day. There was an inch of water and i was worried they would all drown but then I was relieved to see a few a day later.
They're called silverfish...and so beautiful with their love dances and quicksilver ways.
( i like your poems )
Ah, yes someone else also told me the name of them the other day after reading this. It's nice to see others noticing them too.
Thank you! I very much like yours too.
:)
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