Pestilence Domestica

We usually call them dirty, dangerous and utterly gross. But what if we looked at domestic pests through a different lens, asks Karin Brynard.

- Karin Brynard

I was brushing my teeth the other night when I noticed a silverfish in the bath. He (or she) was running around the bottom, trying to scale the slippery sides. Frantic. Despairingly, even who knows what emotions a silverfish harbours...

But its efforts were futile, its tiny feet just couldn't find a grip. For a moment, I contemplated helping the poor thing. Ridiculous, I know. Fish moths are vermin!

Perhaps it will perish all by itself, like, from exhaustion, I decided and put the toothbrush away. Then, come tomorrow, I'll simply flush it down the plughole. I climbed into bed and snuggled down. But sleep wouldn't come. My thoughts kept returning to that woeful creature in the tub. Bloody hell. The world was full of real issues. Like the bombing of Ukraine, or refugees drowning night after night in the cold Mediterranean, wee babies washing up on European shores. More so, on my very own doorstep, thousands of children go to bed hungry. And here I was, tossing and turning over an insect in the tub.

But still, how did it get there? They're wingless, after all, aren't they?