A pair of legs and hands. Two eyes, ears and nostrils. One mouth. One anus. A dangling reproductive organ cum urinary tract. Hirsute. The cockroach summed him up through its myriad mosaic eyes. Its antennae figured what he had for dinner last night from the traces of the fart that had escaped from his rear. He tried to ignore the arthropod that can outlive him in a nuclear holocaust. He hummed a popular tune hoping that the ultrasound waves might goad the insect to retreat into its hole. But it just sat there nonchalantly waving its antennae. What if it is a mutant that sees me as a receptacle for its eggs? What if it is a decepticon? What if it's my reborn grandpa? He was immobilized by his fears when the power went off. A silent scream escaped his throat. He felt a million cockroach legs on him. He heard cockroaches whizz past his ears laughing at his manhood. Cockroaches? Was there an army of them lying in ambush? He screamed with all his might till everyone in the apartment knew about the man who is scared of cockroaches.
Last night they discovered a human in the sewers, screamed the headline on Daily Vermin Times. Ed Rat paused to scan the headline and sipped his morning tea. He was in charge of the highly successful Human Extermination Programme. He came from the highly acclaimed family of rats that had unleashed Plague on the frail human race centuries ago. At that time rats used to be in the sewers and the humans used to be outside. Maybe they too had a Vermin Extermination Program. How ironic, thought Ed. We were destined to rule the world. We withstood their poison and laboratory tests. In fact, the tests made us stronger and resistant to the diseases. Now look at them hiding in sewers away from us, fearing us. The telephone rang. Ed woke with a start from his reverie. There must be something wrong, he thought. My room has shrunk, there are metal bars everywhere. It looks like a cell. I can see my cousins in another cell. They are all playing with something. What's this lump on my hand? What...
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