Tea Leaf Tales: Toy Soldiers at Work

 

My husband and I have tried everything to fight the ever-present, aggressive insects around our Florida home.

As a biology major in college, I was forbidden to use the common, unexpressive term ‘bug.’ But now that we’re under siege, giving various species the higher distinction of specific and usually more colorful names seems rather too respectful. Bugs, pests, vermin, varmints convey my emotions of distaste and frustration much better than order Insecta, class Coleoptera, Lepidoptera, Hymenoptera, Diptera, Hemiptera, Homoptera, Orthoptera, Blattodea, and Mantodea. Although I’m well-schooled in the details of each of those classes, the stuffy latin names make the invaders seem larger than life—like some horrid B-movie with giant bugs crashing through houses and tossing cars.

In desperation, after trying a host of home remedies, we broke down and called an exterminator.

The man from the company did his thing, spraying toxic whatever in and out, then he returned from his truck, not with the invoice as I’d expected, but a box full of these galvanized riflemen. He placed them strategically aimed at our foundation, taking great care to hide as many as possible among bushes and flowers. When finished, he whipped the invoice from his back pocket and, with a sheepish grin, said, “The army is free of charge since you’ve contracted for our yearly plan.”

After the man left, we looked at the bill and shook our heads, conferring about why we hadn’t thought to buy our own troops to save at least eighty percent of the huge fee.

Tea Leaf Tales is a series of original ten-sentence short stories by Marsha A. Moore, relating to photos/scenes that resonate with her.

~ ~ ~ Marsha A. Moore is a writer of fantasy romance. The magic of art and nature spark life into her writing. Read her ENCHANTED BOOKSTORE LEGENDS for adventurous epic fantasy romance: Book One, SEEKING A SCRIBE, Book Two, HERITAGE AVENGED, Book Three, LOST VOLUMES, and Book Four, STAUROLITE. For a FREE ebook download, read her historic fantasy, LE CIRQUE DE MAGIE, available at Amazon and Smashwords.