But as soon as he saw me, he fainted again. Finally, on the third try, Norman said to him, âItâs just Lud. Try to deal with it.â
Sebastian nodded, though I noticed he wouldnât look in my direction.
âI can see where heâll be a lot of help,â I said.
âHe will be,â Norman said. âAs flaky as he might appear, I know I can count on him in an emergency. Except for this irrational problem he has with insects, heâs really pretty brave. Heâs been through a lot. Actually, he went through something like you did, but not quite so hairy an experience. Now, me, I was a lot hairier. Thank goodness thatâs over with.â
I didnât know what he was talking about.
He turned back to Sebastian. âYou okay now?â
Sebastian nodded. He sat up. Then Norman told him what had happened to me.
And after all that, neither of them had any idea what to do to help.
I got up and walked over to a small mirror on Normanâs wall. Man, I was ugly. Big fly eyes. My jaw was all funny, like it could move sideways. I didnât seem to have a nose. And my body was just as bad, all stiff and hard and covered with those thick hairs. âWhy couldnât I be a butterfly or something?â I said. âI had to be something ugly.â
âThatâs it!â Norman shouted.
âWhat?â I asked.
âI have an idea. Itâs dangerous, but it might be your only chance. Are you willing to take a risk?â
I glanced back at the mirror. I thought about how scary and ugly I was. But I could fly. And I could dig. And I could figure out how fast a plane was going just by looking at it. For a kid who never got anything better than a C on a math test, that was something pretty cool. And if I became me again, was I any better off? People would still be scared of me. Iâd be stupid and ugly, and I wouldnât be able to fly.
âI have to think about it,â I told him.
âYouâd better think fast,â he told me.
âWhy?â
âThere isnât much time,â he said. âPretty soon, I suspect you wonât be able to think at all.â
Â
Twenty
KEEP THE CHANGE
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I didnât know what he was talking about.
âYouâre like a bug on the outside,â he said. âBut you havenât changed completely. You can still talk. And a bug canât do that. It can make sounds, but not anything resembling human speech. So I think youâre still changing inside.â
âThatâs crazy,â I said. But as I spoke, I realized that my voice sounded even rougher than before. Maybe my throat was changing inside, like he said.
âEven worse, your mind is changing. Right now, you can still think. But eventually, youâll be all insect. Both your body and your mind. You probably donât even realize youâre grooming yourself.â
I looked at my hands. I was in the middle of licking one, and I was running the other up and down one of my antennas.
âThereâs another thing,â Norman said. I could tell from his voice that this was the worst news of all.
âWhat?â
âMimic bugs are ephemeral,â he said. An instant later, he howledââOuch!ââas my hand clamped on his arm. âThat meansââ
He stopped and looked at Sebastian.
âTell me,â I said.
âIt means they donât live very long.â
I thought about the dried bug bodies underneath the washing machine. âMaybe itâll be different for me,â I said. âPeople live longer than bugs.â
âIâll tell you something,â Norman said. âI know what itâs like to be different. You and me, weâre both different. Iâm smart and, letâs face it, a nerd. Youâre big and scary and kind of rough. But you know what?â
âWhat?â I asked.
âAs long as Iâm human, Iâm not alone.â He looked over at