The shadow shifted and the fly was spared.
But Brad remained sluggish, feeling a bit like a bug in amber, his thoughts almost as frozen as his puny new insect form.
"Fly home." He tested his wings, sapping more energy that he didn't have to spare.
He swiveled his eyes toward the giant seated only a few inches from him on the bench. He felt warmth creep from the man, extending tendrils of heat across the cold wooden slat. Brad crawled closer, feeling the incidental heat from the man's enormous bulk warm him.
If the man had noticed him, seen him as a despicable thing, it would have been easy to crush him. The tiny insect couldn't possibly have avoided that fate.
Brad crept unnoticed right to the edge of the man's shorts. He dug his hooked feet into the fabric. He meant to absorb enough heat to return function to his tiny form, but before that could occur, the runner stood to his feet, leaving Brad little choice but to cling as a tiny hitchhiker on the fabric.
The man left the park and walked the six blocks back to his apartment. Unfortunately, they were six blocks farther than the park from Brad's home and his basement laboratory. The terrified insect didn't have the luxury to dwell on that fact. It clung desperately, doing its best not to lose its grip.
When the man entered his warm apartment, he didn't see any of his roommates, but he did see the evidence of their activities from the previous evening that he'd missed when he'd stole out of the apartment for his morning run. Raking his gaze around the room showed him an open pizza carton on the kitchen table, several cold slices loaded with congealed grease and cheese, and empty and partially empty bottles of beer.
The fly quickly benefitted from the heated apartment. Within minutes, Brad felt strength returning. He buzzed his wings. After a struggle to untangle his feet from the fabric of the man's shorts, he was airborne. Within him, that never-give-up spirit soared again.
The man didn't take any notice. He left the room and walked a corridor toward the bathroom for a post-run shower, giving Brad freedom to explore his new surroundings. His fly senses immediately detected a tempting sweetness from stale beer and the exciting aromas of greasy meat and cheese from the enormous cardboard carton.
Food!
He flew toward the enormous structure of cardboard. Food! Fly home!