ONE HUNDRED LEGS
by Sojourner Walker
She was a refuge really. Driven from her home by a centipede the length of her index finger. Brown like it, too. It slithered across her glossy floor on a Wednesday evening. She was in downward facing dog, on her fourth eugia breath. It was charging towards her, waging a full-scale attack. She sprang forward nearly breaking her neck, and in one limber leap, landed on her armchair. That was the last time she did yoga. It was 6:30 pm.
It, defiant, marched onward across her living room, towards her DVD tower. She, heart racing, knees knocking, hands numb and trembling, began a chant, "Oh God, ohm, oh holy Jesus, oh God". The terror was so great, she could barely feel her extremities. Still slinking and slithering, it, headed for her radiator.
She barefoot and unprotected reached for her phone and called her friend. He was out of town, out of the States, in Brazil. His apartment down the block and across an avenue would be empty and vermin free.
It found a cool spot under her radiator. She hurriedly packed an overnight bag with shaking fingers.
In less than two minutes she was walk-running down the street and across the block towards the vacant apartment of her friend.
Seven days, she would have seven days to strategize before he returned to his apartment causing her to return to hers. This was warfare. During the day, she crept back to her home. Raid was sprayed, borax was laid down, she did everything she knew of to fight off her intruder. Under the watch of the sun, she felt safe enough to enter into combat. The enemy slept during the day. By 6pm, she was gone.
Under the partial cloak of twilight she set up camp at her friends abode. Counting down the days until he would return and she would be forced to face her first night back with the enemy.
Back and forth she roamed. In her mind, she no longer had a home. What she had was a dream invaded. Chin up, shoulders back, she marched forward. Down the street, down the block, belongings slung over her shoulder, her home growing more and more distant. It was her new life. She was a refugee really, driven from her home by a force too strong for her to face.
Sojourner Walker is a freelance writer and teaches Writing to Sixth graders in Brooklyn, New York.
"Be the change you want to see in the world"
- Gandhi
