Quit Bugging Me

Chapter 2

Even in her dreams, Taylor couldn't escape the idea of having unpleasant companions. Trails of snail slime ran down her back, skunk spray burned her nose, and a bear's rancid breath warmed the back of her neck. Each new nightmare brought more anxious thoughts until her mind was constantly buzzing with them.

When she woke up, her mind wasn't the only thing buzzing.

A handful of flies were circling her bed. They buzzed frantically as Taylor swatted at them again and again. For each fly she struck down, a pair of pests took its place.

The bugs followed her throughout her morning routine. She couldn't even go to the bathroom without her tiny audience watching. When it was finally time for breakfast, Taylor collapsed into her chair with a huff. "Mom, did you leave the window open again?"

"No, honey." Her mom moved through the kitchen as gracefully as her butterflies as she prepared stacks of pancakes. "There are still too many mosquitos out for that."

"Then what are all these flies doing here?" A handful of flies joined the others as concern crept into her voice and her heart hammered against her ribcage. This couldn't be happening. This couldn't mean what she thought it meant.

"Guess some animals finally learned how to recognize an amazing young lady when they see one," her dad said. He rustled his newspaper to startle his cat, Pitch, who made leap after leap at his new prey. The black bundle of sass meowed indignantly as he crashed to the floor. "Hush, Pitch. Mind your manners. Those flies are family now."

Taylor's mom smiled as she put a heaping pile of chocolate chip pancakes in front of her. "I thought you'd need a pick me up with all the hoopla about companions going on at school, but it looks like these are celebratory pancakes!"

"But I don't want flies!" Taylor exclaimed. She sprinted to the living room so fast she nearly knocked her chair over, but the flies zoomed after her. More and more insects joined the swarm until her new companions formed a dark cloud that followed her so closely the flies' wings sent tiny gusts through her hair.

Taylor tried to outrun the bugs again and again, but they raced after her no matter where she went. Finally, she collapsed back into her chair and sobbed. "Why did it have to be flies?"

"Nobody gets to pick what their companions are," her mom said. Her butterflies fluttered over to Taylor and brushed away her tears with their wings. "But I bet you'll warm up to them if you give them a chance."

"Yeah, and at least your flies won't shed all over the couch. Isn't that right, Pitch?"

Taylor giggled as the cat shot her dad an irritated glance, but still couldn't quite manage to smile. "But what if I don't warm up to them? It's easy to like cats or butterflies, but flies?" She shuddered as one of them crawled across her scalp. "It's hard to imagine getting anything worse."

Her mom put a hand to her chin. "You know, you didn't always like my companions either."

"No way!"

"You didn't mind the butterflies when you were little," her mom said with a chuckle, "but the caterpillars used to scare the bejesus out of you!"

Her dad stifled a laugh. "Yup. 'Get those haiwy worms away from me!'" he said in his best impression of how Taylor sounded when she was three, complete with a lisp that made Taylor flush with embarrassment.

"Okay, maybe I didn't always like them." Her eyebrows crinkled together as she thought. "But they're yours. Why wouldn't I love your companions? You're awesome."