The fall of Fall

A Story

Fall stood ominously majestic, smacked in the middle of bustling Shah Alam. It was a building of 4 floors, and relatively new - just less than 2 years old. Strangely, it was quite strange that a building should be named Fall, or named after the word “fall”. After all, this four letter word sounds a tat negative, if not pessimistic. Could it be that it was built to signify that all things would eventually “fall” and break down, or was it built for a more sinister purpose?
If you looked around the building, the question would be self-answered. Neighboring the arcane Fall are Spring, Summer and Winter. Together, they form CETNI, a company that had recently spread its wings to Malaysia.
Inside Fall, SNAIPTCA was flying around, adapting to her new surroundings. Having past 3 stages of egg, larva(the toughest phase), and pupa(the most relaxing phase), she matured into a full fledged blood-sucking machine.
Like her other innumerable siblings, LEVELA and TAMSUA, just to name a couple, SNAIPTCA had a predilection towards blood. Heck, she cannot live without it! And the only source from which she could satiate her 2 in 1 package of hunger and thirst would be those two legged aliens in Fall.

******

Week 1
It was just the first week of SNAIPTCA’s life as a grown up. SNAIPTCA considered herself lucky for being in Fall, for being inside an air-conditioned and fully ventilated building. She spent her first week exploring the air ventilation system in the building as she thought it a good public transportation system. When she first tried it, she got blown away the next morning when the system is turned on after a night’s break. As a result, SNAIPTCA suffered superficial injuries, nothing serious, just some scratches. No blood. Instead of breaking fast, she could have broken her “bones”. She found LEVELA, her sister who was naturally gifted with medicinal talent, and was healed instantaneously. Even though she was slightly beaten, deep down inside her thorax, SNAIPTCA wished a wish, a wish to be the top bloodsucker in the world and to pass down her valuable knowledge to her posterity. However, she knew that such aspirations will remain aspirations if nothing was done to realize it. With that in mind, she got up, thanked LEVELA and flew into the unknown horizon of walls with a new pride.
Learning is a lifelong process, even that SNAIPTCA understood. But to learn something, a teacher, a mentor must be needed to act as a catalyst to hasten the learning process. She learned that not all parts of the bipeds in this building called Fall were edible or suck-able. At her first attempt, she flew directly towards the white colored skin of her target and injected her proboscis into the white mass. Penetration. What ease, thought SNAIPTCA, whilst starting the feeding process. Alas, there was nothing but air that entered her abdomen! So, she switched positions and tried other areas of her target. After trying much part of the mid section in vain, she probed outwards. She once again pricked her proboscis into her target. Finally, this time fresh, virgin, and pulsating blood coursed through her body into her abdomen. Her mosquito senses tuned to the extreme, sensing her surroundings acutely for any slight disturbances, ready to flee at any slight anticipation of danger. The two-legged beings who are the only edibles in Fall are also the teachers of SNAIPTCA, ironically. She was so happy to have so many teachers to guide her. However, unlike other normal teachers out there, these teachers in Fall can mean a death sentence to SNAIPTCA if she were to be caught unawares.
Thus, the first week passed relatively slow paced, it was a relaxing period for the mosquitoes. SNAIPTCA would usually hang out with her best friends LEVELA and TAMSUA. They all came from different backgrounds but share the same purpose of living.

week 2
The days are getting numbered, so was her life. The number of bipeds in Fall seemed to be increasing steadily, which is good news for SNAIPTCA. Even so, life was not getting any easier, instead the opposite was true. Every now and then, some despicable two-legged homo sapiens would release a pungent and poisonous gas into the atmosphere. SNAIPTCA did not like that, neither did any of her siblings. Every breath of it was like breathing in second hand smoke, burning the respiratory system of SNAIPTCA. Every time she sensed the release of the toxic gas, she would make an eagle-dive to get as close to the ground as possible and try to find an alcove to hide herself. Once, SNAIPTCA was a tat late in getting herself a place to hide, consequently ending up feeling very very dizzy and unwell thereafter. This was a bad experience. Every day was like a new day to avoid getting killed, and getting killed meant the failing in life. That was a horrible thought. Over the span of a few days, many blood-brethren of hers fell to the ground and never moved again. She felt sad and forlorn looking at the fate that beheld her fellow mates. Life was unpredictable, she shook with fear thinking of when her time would come. Tomorrow? Today? Next day? Still, deep down inside, there was something that motivated her to be a better blood sucker, to continue the deeds of the ill-fated ones, to avenge their deaths.
SNAIPTCA’s teachers were getting more restless by the day. They showed their temper when agitated. SNAIPTCA no longer aim and fly straight at her target lest a deadly blow would land on her face. She learned new aeronautical maneuvers, enabling her to better evade incoming slaps and blows of hailstorm proportions. She bettered her strategy by feeding for a short duration of time, 2 to 3 seconds at a time to be precise, so that her targets would not have dealt a fatal blow when the tingling itch sensation finally grabs their attention. With this, SNAIPTCA would be able make some turns and attack her target at a different spot. After much practice, SNAIPTCA was getting better in her attacks, and she managed to fill up her stomach until its maximum holding capability. One day she overfed, and her abdomen grew so large she could hardly fly. Due to her slowness, she was hit by a teacher. Waaaaaack!! Her body disobeyed her orders and slammed into the nearby wall, her assailant coming for the final kill. With what she had left, she flew close to the black carpet below. A sigh of relief ensued. Her assailant banged and stomped around madly, but none got SNAIPTCA. Camouflage was her life saver. However, like a pregnant mother who slipped and fall, she felt some liquid coming out from her behind.
week 3
SNAIPTCA was getting used to the toxic fumes that killed many of her kind and kin. Slowly but surely, she developed some resistance towards the threatening mist, and soon it became something rather normal to her. It no longer harm SNAIPTCA like before. She had became stronger! She does not even need to hide. Her system adapted to the new threat and made her immune. After facing the same hardship for so many days, it is no wonder that SNAIPTCA can withstand the once difficult times that tested her ability to survive. What cannot kill her just made her stronger.
This is a time when the humans got easily annoyed. Even if there was a slight touch, SNAIPTCA’s teachers would over-react and swayed and turned and hit furiously, rather madly, swinging their arms in full fury. It was as though a sword was given to a blind samurai for him to slash wildly. This was hardly surprising given the fact that a disease was spreading like wild-fire in human community – Dengue. Being potential carriers of the disease, SNAIPTCA had to be cautious not to have open relationships with anybody. This source of the disease could be traced back to the red light district of the mosquito world. There were some irresponsible feeding out there in the world. Somehow, some of this infected mosquitoes managed to find their way into Fall, making a bold entry statement by creating such a pandemic. This scenario did hardly any good to SNAIPTCA. She had to approach her teachers more surreptitiously now. Every single move had to be timed to perfection. Every single reaction had to be observed before it was too late. With perseverance and the will to survive, SNAIPTCA managed to avoid the furious blind shots, most of the time. At unlucky times, she would get hit by the flailing arms of the enraged bipeds. Maybe their reaction could be explained by the veritably hot weather that could be attributed to the failure of the air-conditioning system.

Week 4
There was a warning about the building. SNAIPTCA was not aware what was wrong with the building. But deep down inside, she had a really bad premonition. The building had been empty for a few days already. SNAIPTCA was getting hungry and thirsty at the same time. She was getting light headed for not feeding for a few days straight. She can’t even fly in a straight line anymore. Everything seemed blurry and bloody(hallucinations of food). Time was running out. This was the final test. She wasn’t ready for the grim reaper. In her world, the grim reaper was symbolized by the insect called dragonfly. (This is because dragonflies can come from nowhere and just end any mosquito’s life for good) She wanted salvation, and she wanted it so badly. SNAIPTCA tried not to get involved in too much activity. She wanted to focus on her main objective - to survive, to seek fresh blood, to live to see the morrow. The tension was mounting as SNAIPTCA grew weaker day by day. Cannibalism crossed her mind a few times. But when she looked at her fellow friends, how could she? Although her group of friends may be the craziest of all the mosquito clans, they were certainly civilized and not barbaric in any way. Besides, cannibalism did not sound like a good meal for mosquitoes.
The time had come. Bang. SNAIPTCA witnessed a flash of light. It was so bright that she had to cover her small little eyes. The pool of bright light enveloped her and her surroundings. She felt peaceful, tranquil, emancipated. Nothing can be compared to the brightness of this light other than the sun. But it was night, and there was no sun. This was something different. Feeling blissful, she embraced the flood of light. Ouch! Something hit her really hard. As she opened her eyes, she was stoned at what she saw. The building that contained her was crumbling to pieces. Everything was crushing down, down, and down. She got hit by some pieces of cement. Her leg was hurt, so was her wings. As the few painful seconds passed by, she flew with half her wings, dodging even more blocks of cement. This was the ultimate battle of all, the battle of her life.

******

There was silence after that. Not a single sound could be heard. When SNAIPTCA regained her full consciousness, she was bewildered. She was lying on top of the crumbled pile of rocks and cement. Around her was fresh air, her view was unobstructed. She could make out the distant horizon, a shade of greenish-blue. Freedom. So this is what its like to be set free. She realized that she is free to go anywhere from here.
But something wasn’t right with her body. Her left wing was not whole. Her legs were swollen. Aw, she even had a missing leg. Yet, putting this grievances aside, she knew she had made it. She survived the fall of Fall. Fall was over and done with. Having accomplished this wasn’t an easy feat. Not all mosquitoes can be as strong as SNAIPTCA. She endured, she sailed through the toughest waves, she just finished the toughest obstacle of all. But many things still lie ahead of her, unbeknown to her. After 4 long weeks, its about time for SNAIPTCA to finally unwind and relax. What better time for her to explore her surroundings if not now? This is the time for her to get to know the world, to learn something outside of Fall, to do something new and fun.
As she flew away from the remnants of Fall, albeit a bit like a drunkard, she knew that Spring will be her next pit stop. From her flying point, she could make out scores of bipeds in the building. It is where she has to go; its instinctive, she knows it. Without a doubt, she is looking forward to it. That would be another chapter in her life, a chapter beyond frontiers.

Note to comrades: Invert the CAPITALIZED words to unveil the hidden meaning.
p.s. This story is dedicated to my college comrades and my best friend the mosquito.