I waited.
Camouflaged. Still.
Not a breath, not a tremble.
Patience is my prayer.
Then—movement.
A grasshopper.
Green, fat, unaware.
One of my favorites.
Come closer, little hopper.
Come closer to the end of hope.
It stepped near—just near enough—
And then,
I struck.
God-speed.
My claws closed with precision.
Right at the middle—my favorite part.
So soft. So warm. So good.
But—
A shadow fell.
Something huge. Monstrous.
Eyes the size of my entire body stared down at me.
I froze.
Then—grabbed.
I wriggled, twisted, tried to stab with the blades I was born with.
They didn't care.
Laughter. Voices I didn't understand.
"Oh, look! A beautiful praying mantis!"
"We'll pin this one for the entomology board—guaranteed high marks!"
I didn't understand their words.
But I felt it.
Malice. Triumph.
They put me in a box. A cage of clear death.
Then—spray. Cold.
It seeped into me.
My thoughts slowed.
My body stopped.
And in the fading moments,
My short life flashed—
Hunts. Feasts. Mating. Survival.
Now, I am nothing.
Just a dead thing
Pinned for a grade.