As the day progressed, Brad put the spooky dream behind him and began to hope that escape might still be possible.
Indeed, Matteo returned to do some pool-related chores, including emptying the filter trap, which allowed one prepared bug to spring himself.
“I’m free!” Brad spiraled higher, gaining altitude, as soon as he flew out of the debris trap, although in the process he had to dodge a swipe of Matteo’s hand when the handsome man saw a bug fly free as he emptied the mesh cage.
The giant hand and fingers missed, although Brad’s teeny winged form felt the displaced air currents, and he buzzed happily and aimed his flight toward his home. He skimmed over orderly rows of giant vegetables in Russ’s garden as he made his way toward the backdoor of his home.
But, as he flew closer, he saw his gigantic spouse standing on their neighbor’s deck, a gigantic tower of brown glass held in one hand. As the tiny fly changed course and flew toward the outdoor deck, an enormous Russ emerged from the backdoor, two fresh-from-the-fridge bottles of beer in his hands.
Brad ignored Russ. He was so excited to see Mark that he imagined his nightmare was already at an end.
He ducked beneath the awning that sheltered the deck from rain and sun, but as he did so, a fluttering strip of thin paper brushed his insect form.
THWAP!
Brad slammed into something sticky and oozy. Russ had placed the fresh glue strip to the awning only a couple of hours ago, but several flies and other assorted winged insects had already been ensnared by the glue-drenched paper strips.
The glue held his wings fast against the paper. He buzzed, but there was no escaping the thick smear of glue.
“Mark!” Brad screamed the name over and over in his mind. “Russ!”
The men clanked the beer bottles, and Russ put an arm around Mark and offered encouraging platitudes. “Don’t give up. We’ll find him.”
He meant Brad.
“I’m here! Right here!” Brad could only buzz and twitch helplessly. Every movement mired him deeper into the glue.
His husband eventually left to return to their home. Russ stepped inside his house.
"No! Not a fucking glue trap!" He couldn't admit that such a simplistic method of pest control had caught him. He had a fucking PhD!
The following day, Brad had to watch other bugs gradually weaken and perish, their lifeless husks a testament to the trap’s effectiveness.
Russ made numerous appearance, but not once did he notice the weak buzzing coming from the glue strip swaying in the breeze.
Brad remained stuck on the flimsy paper strip for days, his spirits ebbing, and eventually weakening physically.
But Russ’s regular appearances on the deck kept hope alive.
During all of Russ’s occasional visits to the deck, he never once even glanced in the direction of the glue strip. By now, so many other insects had gotten stuck by the glue-drenched trap that the fluttery strip of paper was blackened with their tiny corpses. Day after day, poor Brad was left to literally twist in the wind.
Still, Brad endured, with the sticky strip twisting in the wind day after day. He got glimpses of his neighbor and his husband, both looking huge but remote, as they remained obliviously inattentive to the the feeble buzzing of the trapped insect.
It finally came to an ignominious end five days later when Russ detached the strip and replaced it with a fresh trap. Buzzing for all he was worth, Brad failed utterly to gain the huge man's notice. Brad and the other pests stuck to the strip were dropped without a thought into the trash. The crushing finale came later when more trash was added, finally putting one tiny fly out of its misery.