(DE)motivation

 Once upon a time, in a land not too far away, there lived a family of bugs. The family was happy and content, consisting of four members- Father Bug, Mother Bug, Brother Bug and the youngest of all, Martin. Martin was a pretty chill dude with a lot of vocabulary and vast knowledge of the Aesop Fables. He loved reading, and moral stories were his favorite because they gave him an inkling of what to do in tough situations.

The family was healthy and happy, and leading their peaceful little lives until one day, when they decided that living in a tree was a bit of a bore. All of their neighbors had shifted to a house nearby, with white walls and air conditioning, which was a great relief during the summer heat. Martin's family too, like any other middle-class bug family, decided to move to the house, where their lives would be a bit more spacious.

The house belonged to a young woman who wrote blogs when she was not busy sleeping or eating. She was terrified of bugs. Though none of her family members shared her phobia, they were generally irritated by the sight of bugs.

It was at the peak of this irritation that Martin found himself happily moving into the house amidst the chaos and hubbub. Lots of bug families had settled nearby- in the rug, in the crook between curtains, in vases, above fans, in unseen holes and so on. The house also had special facilities called "bathrooms" and "kitchens"- or in bug language, "buzzsz" and "buzszz", wherein food was plenty and smells were good. Martin's family, however, could not afford the buzzsz or the buzszz due to the high taxes that were levied on those properties by the bug government. However, they were not disheartened as they took up quarters in the "Dining Room" which the bugs called "buz". Buz was like heaven. There was food AND people to irritate. Martin thought he was at the peak of luxury, and so did his family.

One fine day, merely three days after they moved in, there was a huge, odorous rainfall in the house. No one knew what was happening, but before they could comprehend it, Mother and Father suddenly had rheumatism and heart attacks simultaneously. They had come in direct contact with the rain, as Father had been in the patio reading "The Bugged Times" and Mother had been hanging their wet wings for drying. They both fell to the ground and writhed in pain. 

On witnessing this, Martin and his brother too jumped on the ground, but they ended up on the windowsill due to repeated unprecedented rainfall. Puzzled, the brothers looked at each other before more rainfall was sprayed on them from some sort of blue bottle.

"-repellant. They said this was good, not like the last one."

"I don't know, dad. I mean, these bugs still seem quite alive to me."

Although Martin did not know what the humans were saying, he did understand that they were the cause of the rain. In fact, at the moment, he and his brother were soaked and swimming in a pool of rain.

Slowly, his brother started losing consciousness.

"I thinketh there is no hope for us, Martin. We too, are to die. I only hope that I may not be thrown down to Inferno, as Dante Bugligherri once wrote. I bid thee farewell, brother mine."

"Don't be stupid, brother. I cannot believe that even at the time of death you quote classics. Have you not heard the phrase "Never Give Up?" Was this what Porus did when Alexander had him defeated? Was it this, that Mulan did when she disguised herself like a man? Was THIS, what Simba did when Scar killed Mufasa? No. We must fight on. Like Nero did, for his fellow Germans-"

"-Frenchmen-"

"-Frenchmen. Like Hitler did-"

"-That is actually a bad example-"

"The point is. Do Not EVER Give Up. Never. NEVER EVER, do you get it? At least for our father and mother."

"Fine. Stop talking for God's sake."

But five minutes later, Martin's brother gave up and died.

Martin, however, was not going to give up. He was inspired by his own motivation. He had also heard about the story of two mice who fell into milk- one who gave up his attempt to get out of said milk too soon, the other who continued swimming around until the milk turned to curd (though that takes about 1-2 days, but Martin did not mind that) and then successfully got out of it.

So Martin, too, like his hero- the mouse who got out, started swimming around in the mysterious pool of rainwater. 

"This one is an sturdy one, isn't he?"

"Yep, looks like the repellant is not working after all. Might as well crush him."

Martin saw someone (maybe god?) take him from the dreadful and nauseating pool of rainwater and drop him to the ground. He thought he was going to be saved. He just knew it! It was good that he had not given up too soon-

That was when I crushed him under the sole of my slipper. My, did that feel good!