Bugged!

Last Saturday as I started out on a short road trip to pick up my niece an hour away, I unwillingly picked up a passenger. I was sitting at a red light waiting for the light to change so I could turn onto the freeway when suddenly a small, black-winged creature landed on my windshield wiper. I quickly turned on my blades to see if the bug would fly off before I entered the freeway but he insisted on hanging on. Okay bug, I thought, you're gonna die!

The light turned green and off I went like a Nascar contender. I drove down the entrance ramp and smoothly melded into the stream of traffic as if I'd been there all along. My eyes glanced down every 30 seconds or so and noticed that my little companion was still there. Suddenly it seemed he was waving at me to let me know he was still alive and well. He was taunting me as he would cautiously move around while hanging on precariously. I sped up and darted around my slower counterparts in an effort to make this little rebel give up and let go! He was downright bugging me!! At some point the traffic became a bit more intense and required my undivided attention and maybe eight to ten minutes passed before I thought of him again. The next time I glanced down I noticed that he was thrusting himself forward with his itty, bitty face in the wind acting as if his wings were long, silky flowing hair. By this time I was really quite amazed to realize that at approximately 73 mph my passenger was braving the elements with gusto. My heart began to turn and I felt a bit like the Grinch when he was whipping Max the dog. Just as the Grinch had a change of heart, I too felt differently toward my little companion. Now I was urging him to hang on and survive. As if a miracle of sorts was being performed right in front of my eyes! How was this possible that this creature could not only survive the ride of his life but move around to gain a more comfortable position or a stronger grip?

I let up on the accelerator and began willing my pal to move so I could see that he was alive. Soon the other vehicles seemed foreign to me as I moved through traffic like I was lost in a dream. The others were darting around me and probably cursing my presence while I just continued to urge my pal to hang on. His heart was pounding like crazy. Did I really see it beating or just imagine that I had? Thankfully I was approaching a rest stop and decided to pull over. I just had to see if my buddy was alive.

Parking in the first parking space available I turned off my car and watched my buddy with bated breath. What seemed like an hour was in reality about sixty seconds. One by one, he moved his legs off the wiper blade and shook them out almost as if he were waking a sleeping limb. He went around his body until it seemed all 8 legs were functioning and had blood pumping back through them. His two front legs rubbed together for quite some time and then he fluttered his wings a bit. Now, as a proud peacock shows off his full plumage, my pal strutted around the windshield stretching his wings and shaking his legs again. This went on for approximately five full minutes and when he just launched into what looked like the "hokey pokey" I finally realized he was just bugging me even more and planned to make this a permanent relationship!

I flicked my windshield wipers and sent my nemesis flying away and off I went to pick up my real passenger of the day.

That's the last bug that will get a free ride from me!