Quit Bugging Me

Chapter 3

The next day, Taylor and Eliza went straight to the bayou after school. The thick undergrowth and murky water beckoned to them like old friends. Taylor had long since lost count of the hours she'd spent painting the fish flashing by as Eliza collected fallen feathers to incorporate into her collages.

If their plan went well, what had always been the home of their best creations would soon destroy the flies.

Heat wrapped the girls in a tight embrace that sent sweat pouring down their backs. Taylor wished she had brought something, anything to take the edge off the humidity. All she could do was spread her sweat from one spot to another as her clammy hands wiped her forehead. "Did you bring them?"

"Yup," Eliza said. She pulled two taped-shut egg cartons out of her backpack. The chirping within mingled with the bayou's chorus of buzzing mosquitos. "I hope Andy won't miss these. His frogs go through them like potato chips."

"If he does, we can always get him more from here."

"I'm glad my companions are happy as long as I find flowers for them. I don't think I could stand having carnivores." She grimaced. "Andy says his girlfriend feeds her owl mice and has to clean up the pellets afterward."

Taylor shuddered. Her flies might be gross, but at least they were happy eating the same stuff she did. She hoped her new companions would be as easy to please. "Are you ready?"

Eliza nodded. "Wanna do the honors?"

Taylor yanked off the tape and popped the cartons open. Dozens of crickets leapt for freedom.

It didn't take long for the noisy insects to attract attention.

Lizards scrambled out of the undergrowth to snatch the bugs. Frogs joined the massacre with their tongues whipping the air. Crickets flew down their throats by the dozen as the feeding frenzy intensified. The flies were devoured just as quickly.

"It's working!" Eliza exclaimed. "You'll have new companions before you know it."

"I hope so," Taylor said as a lizard licked its lips and swallowed the tip of a fly's wing. Her swarm had been reduced from a thick black cloud to a patchy haze. She almost felt sorry for the flies as they futilely tried to escape the predators.

Then the buzzing grew louder. Fly after fly zoomed out from rotten logs and cattail-lined mud to reinforce the swarm.

"No!" Taylor screamed. She slapped at them again and again. "Leave me alone!"

But no matter how many flies were eaten, more arrived to take their place.

Lizards scrambled over each other as they lunged forward to grab mouthfuls of bugs, and frogs' tongues crashed together midair. Flocks of herons swooped down to snatch the lizards, and raccoons grabbed at the frogs with hungry hands.

Something large and scaly shifted beneath the murky water.

"Run!" Taylor screamed, but Eliza was already sprinting home.

"See you tomorrow!" she yelled over her shoulder.

"Wait for me!" Taylor's shoes sank into foul-smelling mud as if the ground itself was trying to eat her as she ran after her friend. Soon, only the flies fled alongside her. They clung to her so tightly her skin itched.

A snap, a grumbling hiss, and a heron's cry cut short signaled that an alligator had joined the feeding frenzy. Taylor's breath came in short gasps as she pushed her aching legs to their limits.

As the faint smell of gumbo gradually replaced the bayou's stench, the cacophony behind her lessened until only the frogs' croaking and the lizards' claws scrabbling against the pavement remained. Taylor dashed inside, threw off her muddy tennis shoes, and collapsed into the beanbag chair waiting for her in the living room, soaking it with sweat.

It was only when she heard her dad swearing and Pitch yowling with savage glee that she realized she had left the door open behind her.