It came to me in a dream: this life-sized victim of a little boy, his new magnifying glass, and a glorious summer sun. This creepy Gregor Samsa-like ghost stole me from my college dorm room and transported me back to that summer between fourth and fifth grade. I watched, floating above, as a chubby kid wearing a worn Toronto Blue Jays cap wielded a powerful new weapon of mass destruction: the magnifying glass.
He fumbled with it at first, struggling to perfect the angle, to hold that tight circle of light on a blade of grass. I heard the hiss of water molecules bursting before I saw the thin line of black smoke rise into the lazy summer air. It didn't take long for that plump pre-pubescent to train his new weapon on moving objects. I watched the crackling, sizzling slaughter of ant, spider, and rolly polly alike until I could watch no more. I turned to my Gregor Samsa ghost of insects past, and he spoke one word to me: Abzahlung!
I awakened from this dream, drenched in sweat, the late-morning sun blazing through my open drapes.
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