MiniWarrior, my 10 year old insect, animal, vampire loving, special boy--now stands as tall as my eyebrows.
This morning I woke and crept out of bed as the house and all its occupants lay sleeping.
I shuffled to the coffee maker and filled its belly with ground up beans and water and set it to work.
With the sounds of the water steaming I did a quick check of email and headline news then walked softly up the stairs to MiniWarriors nest.
The red light over Jabba-the-frogs cage illuminated the mantis habitats on his desk. Joset-the-green-mantis and Willy-the-brown-mantis hung upside down, their cages littered with the bodies of half eaten crickets.
A rustle of movement from the cricket cage told me the sacrificial creatures were busy nibbling on their breakfast of lettuce leaves and grapes.
Yes. Eat hearty my little victims. Think not of being speared on Mantis spines while your head is being noshed on nor think upon the lightening fast frog tongue that will pull you into its mouth and suck you down into its amphibian belly.I passed by the hermit crab as he lay quietly, nestled against empty shells, its cage tucked into shadowy corners of the table then turned and walked into MiniWarriors bedroom.
He lay sprawled across his bed, rubber crickets and grasshoppers, stuffed cats, frogs and dogs, lay entwined in his sheets.
I lay beside him for a moment, stroking the soft outline of his ear. He stirred and pressed against me mumbling in his sleep.
I wrapped my arms around him and held him like I have for so many years now. The memories flickered through my head of a brown eyed baby, chubby legged toddler, now a lanky boy-man running on sun brown legs, chasing after another victim to add to his collection of cages.
Is it possible to love a human being more than I do this child?
I cannot imagine how.
