for as long as kevin could remember, it was the same. he and his friends mike, will and his brother walt would squash any bug they saw. walt was reluctant, but joined in anyway through peer pressure since his older brother usually started the squishing. the reason they engaged in this cruel game was that the town they lived in, every summer, was swamped with german cockroaches, so they were the usual prey for the boys. when they were younger, they'd sought them out, but now, they generally only trod on them when they found them.

today, they had found a whole swarm in the park. the overflowing trash in the litter bins having attracted them. the boys had descended upon the scurrying creatures with the usual enthusiasm, trampling them at will.

'you shouldn't do that.' a voice said behind them. they turned.

it was a girl, from kevin's class, but he couldn't recall her name, since she never spoke much to him. and he avoided her. something seemed weird about her, even though she looked fairly normal.

'why not?' mike replied.

'because it's cruel.' she responded. this provoked laugher from the three older boys, which walt joined in with after a few seconds. the girl didn't seem disturbed by this at all.

'i don't think you'd have as much fun if it was the other way around.'

'yeah, but it isn't. they're tiny, we're huge. it's perfectly fair.' will argued. the girl shrugged.

'fine. but if you ever run into something bigger remember that it's perfectly fair.' she said, and walked off. the boys watched her leave.

'what a weirdo.' mike commented, before stepping on another hapless cockroach. soon, the whole group of the insects had been reduced to flattened smears on the path and the boys left the area as well.

***

the next morning, kevin awoke feeling cold. he realised why a second later.

'what am i doing in the park?!' he cried out. he had been lying in his pyjamas on a park bench!

he looked around. the park was empty, and the sky was still gloomy, but the sun was about to rise. the faint glow to the east heralded the start of the day.

'great. i've not got any shoes.' kevin grumbled, looking at the path. it was covered in sharp-looking stones, and also the squashed remains of a few roaches. fine to step on them with shoes on but with bare feet, kevin didn't feel so enthusiastic.

'how am i gonna get home?' he pondered as the sun began to rise. that was when he felt the odd sensation. the world seemed to get a little larger. then he felt his stomach turn over.

he cried out, falling off the bench and onto his knees. his pyjamas felt loose, and his whole body was now covered in a burning, itching feeling. he looked at his hand and was stunned to see it was turning brown, and his fingers seemed to be shrinking. he stared in shock, breifly ignoring the pain as he saw his arm become an insect leg. then the other changes began. his last words with a human mouth were another cry of pain as he felt something start painfully growing from his sides. and the world kept getting larger. he closed his eyes, the pain and the shock too much to bear.

eventually, he felt the pain fade, and opened his eyes again. the sun had risen, but for some reason it seemed really dark still. like there was a cover over him. he decided to try and move... and was surprised to find six legs moving.

what's happened to me?! he asked in his mind, frantically racing towards a spot of light he saw. he emerged, and found he was in a strange world. bare grey as far as he could see, and towering green shapes in the distance.

the path... and the trees... he thought.

i've shrunk. this is crazy!

he scurried forward, then paused as he noticed a glint. the pile of trash flowing out of the litter bin! he raced over, seeing a shiny foil wrapper, and was horrified at what he saw. he saw a roach. he had figured out something was amiss, but had been denying it. but he was staring at a cockroach, and it was his reflection.

this is impossible... but it's real! he realised. and then he felt the rumbling. he turned and saw a behemoth approach, a giant human. he felt a brief surge of panic, before he realised.

they can help me!

he tried to see if he could fly, unaware even after years crushing them that the german cockroach he had become didn't fly. the human, a woman out jogging, grew closer, and in desperation he scurried out onto some dirt and began scratching a message. he managed to spell the h out, and even the distraction of an empty pair of pyjamas didn't stop the woman for long. she dismissed it as some weird prank being played and kept jogging.

i hope this works... and i hope they think it's too crazy to be a joke!

the woman saw the roach scrabbling in the dirt. it almost seemed to be writing...

'an h? oh man, you guys are learning to write!' she said in mock surprise.

'i had better get rid of you though. if you roaches learn anything else you might take over.' she joked, before trying to step on him.

kevin was lucky to evade her, having heard her voice boom her intentions out . frantically, he scurried in the direction he hoped was home.

***

he had no idea how long it had took, but now the sun was high up in the sky. but he was sure he had managed to reach his home safe and sound. still a cockroach, but safe. he crawled under a gap in the door, entering the kitchen. there he saw mike, will, and walt in the lounge.

i need to get their attention somehow... he thought. but his dark brown body moving on the white table in the kitchen was enough.

'hey, a roach. pass me the newspaper.' will said. mike handed it over.

...i didn't think this through. kevin realised in horror as will approached.

kevin ran.

'whoa, it saw me! get it!'

and so, kevin then tried to evade the people he thought could help him. frantically he pleaded with them to realise it was him, but his thoughts could not be heard. however, the two worked against each other, and he could dodge them.

and then a shadow descended. for a second, there was a strange sensation of weight, and then...

***

'heey, good throw walt.' will said.

'yeah. sniped it with the phonebook.' mike congratulated the younger boy.

'you guys were making too much noise over one bug.' walt said simply.

'i suppose. where's kevin anyway? shouldn't he be back from wherever he is?'

walt shrugged.

'maybe we should go look for him.' will suggested. the three boys left, leaving the book in place atop a very crushed cockroach.


***

kevin cried out in surprise as he awoke. in bed. safe, human, and not flat.

'that was a weird dream...'

***

for kevin, today was very odd. as he and walt entered the park, there was a poster up at the gate claiming someone had lost a pair of pyjamas and the park warden had helpfully added in pen that the students who had ditched a pair last night and the night before should own up now before he caught them. they looked familiar to kevin.

then it turned out he had been missing yesterday according to walt.

'where were you anyway?'

he had no answer for his brother, or for will. and will had no answer as to where mike was.

'no idea. he's not answering his phone. guess he's sick.'

kevin agreed. then he saw a patch of dirt. it looked like a faint h had been scratched in it...

***

they headed for mike's house, where his confused mother said she thought he had already left. the boys thanked her and left themselves.

'weird. wonder where he is. hey, am i gonna go mysteriously missing tomorrow?' will joked.

'i'm sure he's around somewhere.' walt said. kevin saw something move at the edge of the pathway.

'oh hey, a roach.' will said, and stamped on it.

'no warning this time. not letting it run off like yesterday. especially since walt doesn't have a phonebook.'

'yesterday?!' kevin asked in confusion.

'yeah. me and mike chased a roach...' will began, but kevin had ran out of the gate.

'jeez... what's his problem?'

kevin ran to his home, and found, lying on the floor, the phone book. he picked it up, and was horrified to see below it, the squished and gooey remains of a roach.

'it was real...' he said, and felt sick. that meant the roach will had crushed... it might have been mike.

***

the next morning, mike was back. will was now indeed missing, freaking out kevin considerably, especially since mike seemed disturbed by something. but kevin wasn't sure how to raise it. ''hey, mike, did you turn into a cockroach and get trod on by will? it's cool, my brother nailed me with the phonebook and if we find will you can squish him back!''

a single roach crawled along the path. mike trampled it, and then his face turned white for a second. kevin saw this, and knew mike had come to the same conclusin.

'weird how will isn't around after what he said yesterday, huh?' walt commented. the two older boys looked at each other. both saw the other had a look of fear and understood it was the same fear...

***

walt had had to go to the bathroom, but the only toilets open were on the opposite side of the park. mike and kevin waited by the ice cream stand for his return.

'kevin... i thought i had a weird dream...' mike tried to begin. kevin sighed, swallowed his pride, and blurted out the crazy truth.

'if you were turned into a roach and squished, it wasn't a dream.' he said. mike looked like he was going to be sick at the shock of the confirmation.

'sucks, doesn't it?' a voice asked. the two turned and saw the girl who had berated them.

'did you do this?!' kevin accused her. to his surprise, she nodded.

'sort of. thought you guys could use a lesson. see, every roach you crushed after i told you to stop... you'll spend a day as a roach and get crushed. or maybe you won't. but then you'll be a roach. just a tiny little bug... in a world with a lot of big things.'

'how can you have done this?' mike said, voice trembling.

'i won't go into it, but i'll be a lot kinder than you were to the roaches. the rules are simple. you each squished about 20, 30 roaches. but every one you step on adds to your total. so you'll all be roaches for a while. oh, and if you don't get stepped on by a friend, it doesn't remove a day. it adds one'

'but... then we squash a roach and get an extra day each time!' kevin realised.

'huh. you're right. oh well, guess one of you is going to have to take one for the team and squash a roach to save the others. oh, except walt. see, you guys forced him into it. he doesn't like it. he'll be a roach, sure, but he won't ever remember it. and if you tell him, you all get every day of his.'

'how come he gets to not remember it?' mike protested.

'he's cuter than you. and more innocent. besides, he just stood on another dozen by mistake. they need more bug traps in the mens room...' the girl smirked, and walked away.

the two boys sat stunned. they couldn't think of a way out. they sat in silence until a crack from nearby startled them. a man on a bike had just rode over a whole group of roaches. some had been squashed, others had ther legs crushed. the two boys stared in horror at the sight that they had once enjoyed causing, fearing that they were looking at every four days for the rest of the lives...