Well, I Was Sleepy

Tonight I did everything in my power to get myself ready for sleep at a decent time: I ate dinner at six, had two cups of mint tea at eight, and did some pleasure reading for a couple of hours. I washed my face, put on my pajamas, and was all set to climb in to bed, when I spotted something that drove away every thought of sleep...

A three-inch long centipede on my wall.

And that measurement is not an exaggeration; in fact, it may be an underestimatation. As hardened as I have become to killing insects during my stay here in Chicago, the bug was so big, so hideous, that it forced me to pause and look away in order to summon my courage. You know how it usually is when you kill a bug with your shoe or a paper towel, and you feel that it really isn't an animal you're killing, because it is too small or simple? Well, with this one, it felt like I was actually killing an animal. It was that big and... fleshy. I've never seen an insect that large outside of a museum.

After a few moments, fearing that the insect would crawl down the wall into some hard-to-reach corner, I managed to steady myself and crush the thing. I won't go into details, but the fact that it took me two paper towels just to clean up after the kill should give you some idea as to how substantial the thing actually was.

So now, here I sit at my computer, wide-eyed, quivering, constantly rubbing my arms and legs, and jumping at the slightest sensation on my skin. So much for my wonderful plan of getting to bed on time.