A small gecko lived in my house – I never knew him. His ways were beyond my eyes, but days would come when my life would intersect with his and then I knew he was there.
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A man lived in my house – I never knew him. He was so big, he was every where at once. His presence worried me but he never really troubled me but he did stare so. As you know my eyes are big, I creep into where he tends himself and there is a large area of fixed water upon his wall. There I have seen myself and known my eyes. Big eyes, well there’s plenty to see in his place. I wonder if he knows what life is like so low down here where I am.
It is painful when the light comes on. I have no control over it, suddenly there; the luminescence is so loud it hurts my head. Somehow, he and the light are one, he appears when it comes to take my head away. He bends and stoops so low I think he will die, looking at me as I scurry away to the comforting darkness of an open crack.
There was a time when every morning I would come back from a foray into the large expanse next to the water wall and he would surprise me as he was in that strange crouching position that became familiar to me. He would follow me with those little sparkly eyes of his and I would feel trapped and so afraid, wondering what was going to happen. I was careful to make sure that he couldn’t see me too well but somehow, I was always aware that he had spotted me. I am surprised that my skin lets me down so, it’s one of the features that I am very proud of – I look like the floor, which is so cold that’s often why I am going so fast over its surface! I shouldn’t have worried as he never did anything to me. In fact we seemed to share a common awe of each other – I don’t know why though as I am so small compared to him.
One day we met and I was more frightened than normal as he seemed to want me for some reason. His big hand came down and I didn’t know quite what to do I had to run away – what could I do? Suddenly I felt a pain in my rear end and I knew that the inevitable had happened he had got me at my most vulnerable place. I was mortified – I went away swiftly into my favourite crack and wept for vanity my beautiful tail! What had he done? There was blood everywhere but it soon dried up.
Life was pretty much the same for me day in day out (well night actually!). I would go out on my forays and hunt the little fiends that clutter up the place. I had been living happily like this for many nights. Then one day the unexpected happened, it changed my life forever.
There was another of those giants in the place which was home for me. I would often hear him more than see him. Well actually it turned out that I wasn’t actually hearing him but the things that he got up to. Once or twice I investigated and had to make exits as water on the ground made things extremely hazardous. Then I was spotted and it was too late. He got me; I have never been got like that before and don’t intend to be any more either! I found this experience very demeaning – worst of all this giant evicted me from my home and I had my first experience of flying, which some of my chums really relish as they are birds. I didn’t enjoy it one bit, very undignified!
Life’s not been very good since then. I never did find my way back to my old home. Some of my bird mates, when I was chatting recently to them said that they had overheard one of the giants saying that he missed me, well I never knew that he cared so much.
Postscript – this was written whilst living in Ghana around 2000. I found it whilst sorting through CDs and DVDs of files yesterday.