Let It Dangle. Adult. A man gains the powers of a cockroach. (standard:humor, 5218 words)
Author: Oscar A Rat	Added: Jun 21 2020	Views/Reads: 1350/1006	Story vote: 0.00 (0 votes)
Security guard Bubba intercedes in a alley, finding he’s saved a huge cockroach. The roach is a god-in-training and gives Bubba the powers of a roach. Bubba’s problem is that one part of his body is NOT affected.

It was late at night and Bubba Brooks dozed at his desk. He worked as a
late-shift security guard for Acme Distributors. Then an alarm went 
off. It was from an outer fence sensor. 

Jumping up and running to a back window of the storage facility, he saw
a fight going on right outside the fence. Two assailants were pummeling 
a tall figure wearing a shiny black coat. Apparently one of the 
fighters had bumped the fence hard and set off the alarm. 

Bubba grabbed a mace can and a stun-gun then ran outside. 

A convenient gate let him into the alley close to the figures. Yelling,
"Halt, Stop," he ran at them, intent on helping the man in black. As he 
approached, it looked to him as though the tall victim was using more 
than two hands in the altercation. By the time Bubba closed in, the 
muggers saw him coming with weapons and ran away, their victim 
collapsing onto the dirty concrete surface. 

As the worried and anxious guard bent to help, he froze in shock. It
wasn't a coat. The victim turned out to be a man-sized cockroach. It 
lay on its back, four stumpy legs waving with two more holding a badly 
beaten face. There was also a rather strong and strange odor coming 
from the creature as its mandibles opened and closed in pain. 

Bubba wasn't particularly afraid of bugs and wanted to help, but how?
Should he call the hospital? "Please send an ambulance to the alley 
behind Acme Distributors. I have a badly beaten cockroach that needs 
attention." Uh, uh, he thought, shaking his head. 

He knew what Mr. Thompson, his boss, would say. "Get your lazy ass back
to work, Brooks. It happened outside the property. Call the cops. It 
has nothing to do with us and our insurance won't cover it." So, that 
was out. 

Maybe he should call the police? They'd probably stomp or shoot the poor
thing. Nope, not the police. 

Well, he still had five hours on his shift and access to the facility's
medical cabinet. 

He lifted the poor creature, finding the insect was light, only weighing
thirty or forty pounds. As gently as possible, he dragged and carried 
it back into the plant, then into the security office where he'd been 
napping. 

Laying the creature on a table, Bubba looked the insect over. The worst
damage seemed to be a cracked shell midway along what he thought of as 
its abdomen. That and a leg that was so broken that half of it dropped 
off while Bubba tried to straighten the appendage to splint it. 

He had to be satisfied with wrapping a dozen layers of gauze around the
crack and wiping the creature's brow with a damp rag covered with 
antiseptic solution. 

Even as he watched, the stub of leg elongated. Within the hour, it had
grown back into a whole, though very small, appendage. Again shocked, 
Bubba felt something on his shoulder. The roach's chitinous paw held 
him gently by the arm. He felt, not heard, something saying, "Thanks. 
Thanks for saving me." Multiple eyes were looking into his own. "Sugar. 
I need sugar." 

Bubba ran into the corridor and onto the seat of a golf cart used to
tour the large facility. He sped into the warehouse area, where he 
found hundreds of pallets of sugar lined up at area #53. He grabbed two 
five-pound sacks from an open pallet and hurried back to his patient. 

"Sugar. Mix it in water. Hurry. I need it." 

There was a stack of plastic five-gallon pails in a corner of the
office. Bubba dumped both sacks into one and, putting it under a nearby 
spigot, filled the pail with water. After stirring with an iron pipe he 
kept in a corner for emergencies, he brought the pail over to the 
roach, who was sitting up by then. 

The bug made short work of the five gallons, drinking it down hungrily


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