[Editor’s Choice: Silverfish – Hilarious Short Story]
Silverfish – Hilarious Short Story
Image Credit: Aiwok (commons.wikimedia.org)
“Yes, we‘re it, they call us silverfish! Some dub us bookworms too. We even dare to eat divine books”! It did not say this timorously. I supposed it spoke to me. I trembled. Possibly, my conscience had not abandoned ethical values yet, otherwise I would not feel uneasy. Bugs also suck blood but do not blush. Everyone who is anyone on this soil is driven by physical needs, so I am not any exception. I too sail in the same boat.
My stomach is the greatest schoolmaster; it brought me to a writer where I worked as a domestic helper. I wished to be my own master but force of circumstances compelled me to do the job. Writing was his passion; and probably it was the reason that made him shelve each book which would come to his hand. He was not so habitual of reading books but had a taste for collecting. A room was specially kept for this very purpose and it had turned now into a small library. Shelves projecting from all walls were supporting his books.
Actually, he was a small scale employee in some public organization. Had he not been serving anywhere, he would have definitely been reduced to a real condition of starvation.
One day he revealed to me, “My son! Virtually no one listens to me. And if ever anyone gives an audience, he fails to grasp the full significance of my remarks. That is why I refer my pain to my words and these humble connections imbibe all my pain without any reluctance. Maybe, you take me in sleep, when I sleep, but I always lie wakeful under the shield of my words. My words are my pearls….”
True, I didn’t get the hang of it. “Poor fellow is really a complex mind!” I could conclude.
It was included among my duties to dust the books once in a while. Forgetfulness is a curse. It renders a man oblivious to its obligations. So I would forget to dust. In fact, I would go to that small library with the very purpose of sweeping it up, but while entering the room some peculiar and wonderful thoughts entangled me and dusting did leave my mind. I would gaze up at silverfishes present there in abundance. They lived on the books and these were actually their sustenance and survival. True, my mind would not approve my wiping them out. And then it would make me unmindful of my obligation.
After passing a long time with those silverfishes, I was psychologically feeling myself in a state as if I too were a silverfish. Nevertheless, I did command authority. Sometimes, I would dust off the books and there would be piles of dead silverfishes. But after only a few days, I would see their hustle bustle again.
It was a fact that I could understand the nonverbal language of those silverfishes. It was a sort of body language. But no one would believe, and that made me tight lipped. I thought that if I did pour out my heart, I might be dubbed a lunatic. So I kept quiet.
While stepping forward on a big book of ‘Constitutions of States’, a silverfish looked down and observed numberless other silverfishes strolling on different books. It stretched its long arms out. This elongation was actually a satirical gesture. It moved its front arms right and left. This meant it was yelling. “Pooh!” It remarked. “Poor creatures! How could you know my status? You dullards don’t know my standing! You are just biting dust. Listen! You eaters of useless books! Do you think of being any value? Look! I am standing on a book that costs ten thousand dollars, and there is no leaf save I have not eaten. All constitutions of all states have moved down to my legs. And you know, I am not actually walking on my legs but through clauses of constitutions. Understand?” He raised up his forearms. That meant he laughed loudly.
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