虫 | a bug

そろそろお風呂に入ろうかなと腰を上げると耳元で羽音が聞こえて、その瞬間腕がグニィと変な方向に曲がった。相手めがけて振り回したつもりだったが掠りもせず、数秒間頭の周りで飛んでいる音が続いた。生きた心地がしなかった。

数日前から、住んでいる階の水を逃すための溝にゴキブリの死骸があり、通るたびに「……」と見つめて死んでいることを確認していた。それが災いしたのか、羽音から逃げる間その姿が鮮明に脳裏に甦ってきた。腕の遠心力で何回転かした後、玄関から音のする方に目を凝らしたら、小豆サイズのなんかの虫だった。羽音がやたらと大きかった。

すぐに収納からゴキブリ予防のスプレーと、網戸や戸に吹きかける害虫予防のスプレーを引っ張り出した。その虫が天井にとまってもぞもぞしているところに狙いを定めて、二つのスプレーを交互に噴射した。噴射音はやたらと大きかったがどちらも届かず、部屋がトレインスポッティングのクラブのシーンみたいに煙たくなった。独特の匂いに眩暈がして、虫より先に防虫スプレーでやられるかと思った。あと手にできるものといえば、服のホコリを取るコロコロだけだった。

柄を握り、虫が僕の頭上近くまで近寄ってきたところで狙いを定めてコロコロを打ちつけた。5回くらい空振りして「ｱｱもうダメだ」と思った次の一手がたまたま虫に当たり、床に落ちた音がした。でも、いくら探しても虫本体は見当たらなかった。虫は消えた。現れるとしたら今夜の夢の中だ。おれは今夜目を開けて寝る。

Just as I was getting up and thinking it might be time for a bath, I heard wings buzzing right beside my ear. At that exact moment, my arm bent with a horrible gnngh in some unnatural direction. I thought I was flailing it at my attacker, but I didn’t come close to hitting anything, and for the next few seconds, the sound of it flying around my head continued. I thought I was going to die.

For the past few days, there had been a dead cockroach lying in the drainage channel on my floor of the building. Every time I walked past, I would stare at it in silence — “……” — and make sure it was still dead. Perhaps that was my mistake, because as I fled from the buzzing, the image of it came back to me in vivid detail.

After a few rotations powered by the full reach of my arm, I stood by the front door and peered towards the source of the noise. It turned out to be some sort of insect about the size of an adzuki bean. Its wings were absurdly loud.

I immediately pulled two cans out of the cupboard: one for preventing cockroaches and another meant to be sprayed on window screens and doors to keep insects away. The insect had landed on the ceiling and was wriggling about, so I took aim and fired the two sprays at it in turn. The cans made an enormous racket, but neither spray reached the ceiling. Instead, the room filled with mist until it looked like the club scene from Trainspotting. The peculiar smell made me dizzy, and I began to think the insect repellent might finish me off before it finished the insect. The only other weapon within reach was a sticky lint roller.

I gripped the handle, waited until the insect came close to hovering directly above me, then took aim and swung. After missing about five times, I thought, Agh, it’s over. But my next swing happened to connect, and I heard the insect hit the floor. No matter how hard I searched, though, I couldn’t find its body. The insect had vanished. If it appears again, it will be in my dreams tonight. I’m sleeping with my eyes open.