India !

Johannes Manjrekar

The Gecko

The gecko’s skin is a pale yellow-green, like the olive on strongly bleached camouflage clothing. It neither quite blends into the light yellow of the bedroom wall, nor is it conspicuous.

The gecko had spotted the moth from at least six feet away. It covered the first couple of feet in little darts, then it switched to a more stealthy slow-motion approach. Now it is maybe six inches away, and has been as motionless as the moth for a while, as if it had paused to carry out complicated calculations on its chances of getting its prey if it struck from here. Slowly it slides its pale pink tongue over one eye, then moves its head ever so slightly before lunging forward.

The moth is gone. The gecko moves a few steps, flicks its tail and settles down to wait.

naked light bulb
the rain on the leaves
barely audible

Johannes
2009-11-13

Copyright Johannes Manjrekar, 2009
tempslibres.org