Hand Held Cousin Chapter 4

Night fell. Carol and everyone else in the house was sound asleep…but I felt wide awake…I felt the urge to explore and to travel. I needed to go. Sitting in Carol's drawer was just too…boring. I flew up to the edge of the drawer and kicked against it. The drawer slowly, but surely slid open wide enough that I could fly out. I leaped up and out of the drawer and landed on top of the bedside table. I turned and saw Carol sleeping softly in her bed…across from her was the other bed where Jennifer was snoring away.
"I'll be back later Carol." I whispered. She didn't wake up…but I could have sworn I saw her nod her head. I smiled and flew out the door, which had been left slightly open. I flew down the stairs and into the kitchen. Flying was such a wonderful feeling! It was the most fun I had ever had! Feeling the breeze brush past my cheeks and tussle my hair…I could even feel it whipping at my pointy ears. It was incredible! I found my way to the table and landed lightly on the wood. I sat down and looked out over the kitchen. There was little light, but I could see all that went on.

"What the?" I climbed to the edge of the table and looked down at the ground. There was something moving across the floor…fast. I jumped down and fluttered my wings slightly to keep from landing too hard. I stepped forward into the darkness to get a better look at what was moving. What I saw…startled me. It was ENORMOUS! A giant cockroach…normally, it wouldn't have seemed so big…but at my current height…if it could stand on its rear legs, it would be my height! This thing was a MONSTER!
"My GAWD!" I cried. I jumped backwards. It didn't take much notice of me…instead, it was more interested in a large chunk of bread on the ground…it was eating it fast and furiously….disgustingly. I could only imagine what Carol's family might say if they saw this monster scurrying around their house. I then looked at my little fairy hands and remembered something. I was a martial artist! Maybe I could put that to use! I clenched my fists and ran toward the beast.
"HEADS UP!" I roared. I took a flying leap and used the momentum to do a front flip in the air. As I was coming out of the flip, I stuck out my leg. The heel of my foot turned into a falling guillotine. The heel of my foot smashed hard into the roaches back, snapping it in half like a board!
I never knew that a roach made a noise…but this one did! It let out a high pitched squeal and arched its back like a horse, sending me flying backwards. I spun to look at it…its back looked damaged, but not enough to kill. The monster turned to face me…angry. It scurried toward me like a charging bull. I jumped to the side and avoided its charge. I turned to face it…and was taken by surprise.
"AAAH!" I screamed. The roach was on top of me! It's front legs were trying to pin me to the ground and its mandibles were wide open…trying to devour me! I thrust my hands against it…trying to force it off. Fighting a roach wasn't like fighting a human; his body was so much different….but I knew one thing that would get his attention. I cocked my arms back in a boxing position and started firing away at its face.
"1.2.3.4.5.6.7.8…" I counted down my shots over and over…with each punch I felt the roach backing off of me. "…10.11.12.13.14.15….SIXTEEN!" I slammed my knee into the roaches middle and sent it screaming away from me! I had knocked it on its back. But it wasn't enough…it would be back up and raging if I didn't finish it soon! I looked around for a weapon…for something…and then I saw it! Laying beneath the counter was a toothpick, and one end was extremely pointy and sharp looking! I made a mad dash for the toothpick. I could hear the roach get back on its feet…and I heard it moving toward me.
"Come on…come on!" I roared. I ran as fast as my little legs would carry me. I could almost see the toothpick! I could reach it! The roach was right on my tail! If I didn't get to that toothpick in time, I would feel that disgusting monster on top of me…and it wouldn't fall for the same move twice. I felt it's legs start to catch up to me…touching my heels! NO! I leaped toward the toothpick and clutched it in my hands. I rolled over onto my back and thrust the sharpened spear end forward
"SCREEEEEEEEE!!!!" The roach was right on top of me…but its momentum and speed had been the death of it. It had impaled itself on my toothpick. The beast twitched…trying to find a way to stay alive. I shoved the toothpick deeper into its body and kicked it away from me. The roach fell on its back and lay…motionless. I had killed the beast. Sweating and panting, I stepped forward and removed the toothpick from its body. The wood near the edge had become slimy with the bugs insides…I wiped it off on the ground. I turned to walk away…and screamed.

"OH GOD!" I screamed. Scurrying around the bread from earlier were 3 more roaches. They weren't as big as the first one…but they looked just as hungry…and just as mean. My toothpick was too small…and it wouldn't last against all of them….but it was all I had. Part of me wanted to throw the toothpick down and run for it…to just leave them. However, I knew that roaches were unhealthy and dirty creatures…having them around was dangerous to the health of Uncle Mark, Aunt Jane, Jennifer, and even Carol…all of them. I looked at the toothpick in my hands and thought about the room Carol had made for me…about the washcloth she had put me in to save me from freezing…how she had helped me fly…I owed her big time! I clenched my fists around the toothpick…if this was how I would repay her…then so be it!

"…Bring it ON!" I roared. I made a running dash toward the three bugs and prepared to kill. The toothpick was about the size of a sword in my hands. I held it like a katana sword and leaped into the air. I flew over the roaches and aimed for the closest one. "BANZAI!" I bellowed. I dove straight down, the tip of the toothpick aimed for the head of the roach. There was the sound of a pierced skull and the feeling of shaking and struggling legs…and then the beast lay motionless under me.
"One down." I muttered. Before I knew what was happening, the second roach had left the bread and was coming to me. I removed the toothpick from the first roaches head and took a defensive position. I held the roach at bay with a few focused swings. The roach made a move and head butted me in the stomach. I stepped back and thrust the toothpick forward…right into the monsters eye. It screamed and thrashed, but I moved quicker, I twisted the toothpick and jerked it away, yanking the head clean off. The beasts head rolled away and the body collapsed.
"That's two…AAAARRGGHH!" I was knocked to the ground as the third one landed on top of me. The toothpick flew out of my hand and landed away from me. I was defenseless! I tried to crawl away from the roach, but it continued to follow and bite at me. Suddenly, I felt a sharp pain in my leg. The roach had bitten down on my leg and was chewing it with its mandibles.
"AAAAAAHHHHHHH!" I roared. I swung around and kicked it in the head with my free foot sending it backwards. I leaped up and took a defensive muay thai stance….I wasn't going to die at the feet of a roach. I charged it like a football player and started pounding it with my fists and feet. I kicked it hard in the face, and then started pounding it hard with my fists. It was backing off…but not beaten. I needed to end this fight fast…and I was getting tired. I threw a fast elbow at the monsters head and stunned it. I ran back to where I had been and grabbed the toothpick holding it like a katana…ready to thrust deep into the beast. Compared to me…it was the size of a large dog, so I looked down on it as I prepared to strike. I spun the toothpick over so that it faced downward…and I impaled it through the back. I held it down as it struggled…desperate to keep it from freeing itself. I had it…I had won! The monster finally stopped moving…and lay still.

I fell backwards and lay on the cold floor. I breathed heavily and wiped the sweat from my brow. I was so tired and fatigued. I groaned and rolled over…my leg was bleeding steadily and my clothes were torn along the side. The toothpick I had been fighting with was still sticking out of the roaches back…and I didn't feel like getting it. I rolled over and looked up at the piece of bread…there was something else there.
"Oh no…" I groaned. This time though…it wasn't a cockroach… "I'm dead meat!" I moaned. Eight hairy legs came crawling out from behind the bread. Eight eyes to match stared at me with fierce intensity. It's body was almost as long as I was from its front legs to its back…it was a full grown wolf spider…and it was hungry. To it…I was just another tasty meal.
"Help…" I whimpered. I could get to my feet and fight…if I had the energy. I wanted to fly away…but my leg was hurt too badly…I couldn't move…I didn't have the energy! The spider was closing in fast. Ravenous, it came darting for me. It's fangs were extended to deliver its fatal bite. "NO!" I cried. I clenched my eyes shut and covered my face.

*click*
SMASH!

"What are you doing?!" I looked up and saw Carols foot had come down on top of the spider. Its legs were sticking out…still trying to reach me…but the rest of its body was squashed. I followed the leg up and saw Carol in her pajamas…looking down at me with concern on her face. "What did you think you were doing…and…and what's all this?" She said indicating the roaches lying dead in the kitchen.
"Carol…I was just trying to..."
"What happened to your leg!?" She suddenly reached down and scooped me up from the ground. She began studying my leg. "Did you get bitten?"
"It was the roach! Not the spider. I'm fine." I cried.
"I'll be the judge of that. Let me get a Band-Aid." She held me in one hand and walked to the back of the kitchen and began looking for a bandage. "What did you think you were doing?" She asked. She finally found a bandage and began wrapping it around my leg.
"I…I saw those roaches in your kitchen…and I decided to kill them."
"Why?!" She cried. I shrugged.
"I…I thought that I needed to…to thank you for all that you've done." Carol shook her head sadly.
"Michael, you don't need to kill bugs to thank me…" She said, she finally patched up my leg and picked me up again in her hands. She held me close to her face so that we could see eye to eye. "You could have been hurt!" Suddenly, I felt very defensive.
"I'm not a child…I'm a trained martial artist…a FIGHTER!"
"Right now, you're my little fairy cousin…and you need to be more careful!"

"Carol, STOP IT!" I shouted. Carol looked at me in surprise but didn't drop me. "I've lost everything, Carol! Everything! I…I have no family, no home, no friends…nothing! That was all taken away from me the minute this happened to me! Fighting and martial arts are ALL that I have left…don't take that away from me! I'll fight every bug for a mile if I have to! But I will NOT give up the only thing I still have to call my own!" Carol looked at me and nodded hesitantly.
"I understand…but…I wasn't going to make you stop." She said. "I was going to tell you to just be more careful…and you should probably use something besides a toothpick to fight cockroaches."
"What would you suggest, cousin?" I asked.
"I have a few ideas…but for now, I'm just glad you're okay…and I'm taking you back to your drawer."
"I can fly back."
"Not happening."
"Carol!!" I moaned.
"Don't back talk me!"
"You're enjoying this, aren't you?" I shouted.
"Maybe just a little." She laughed. She then carried me in her open hands back up to her room and set me down in her drawer. Suddenly a thought came to my mind.
"How did you know I was in trouble, Carol?" I asked. She grinned
"I heard something downstairs yell 'banzai,' so I came down to check." My eyes widened.
"But…I didn't shout that when the spider showed up! You mean you were there when I was fighting the roaches!?" Carol nodded.
"Yep."
"And you didn't HELP ME?!" Carol laughed.
"I was bitten by that monster!" I cried.
"I didn't see it bite you…or I would have helped….but I had never seen you fight before. I wanted to watch." I shook my head. "And you were really good." I suddenly looked up and beamed.
"Really?!" She grinned and rolled back into bed.
"Goodnight, Michael…little fairy, cousin." I beamed to myself as I crawled into her sock and closed my eyes. Despite the pain in my leg…it had been a fun night.