LITMIR.BIZ

      It’s no surprise that I suffer from broomophobia.*

      Of course, there are those who prefer to exterminate me with a stomp of their foot or by using one of those sprays that household cockroaches are so afraid of. But in any case, getting squished to a pulp is better than being boiled to death slowly in a witch’s cauldron—witches absolutely love tossing us into their potions—or ending up fried in a pan, which is what happens to my brothers in some tropical countries.

      The truth is, I just can’t understand it: people love and appreciate other insects that are similar to me. In fact, they find my cousins the crickets so likeable that human children adopt them and lovingly feed them chunks of tomato. And can you imagine? They are so popular that one of them, Jiminy Cricket, was the lead actor in a famous movie and since then all he ever does is sign autographs. He even bought himself a luxurious mansion in Miami!

      * a terrible fear of brooms.

      Although I’m known for being a night owl, I’m a responsible, peace-loving cockroach who does no harm to anybody. I don’t bite like mosquitoes; I don’t gnaw on things like rats; and I don’t annoy people with my noisy song like cicadas.

      Yet humans still hate me and I don’t know why. In fact, they detest me. For some mysterious reason, every time they see me, they screech, shout, flap their arms around and, most of the time, end up trying to smash me.