30 Days to Live: It’s a Fly’s Life

The one thing that drives my whole home craziest is seeing a fly buzzing about in the house. It becomes a hunt: a hand snatches the creature up (there’s a fly whisperer in our midst), or the light of a glass door beckons it until we coax it outside. But what is that like for the fly? Explore the idea in a fly’s life writing prompt.

Write a story or poem from the perspective of a fly. As you do, keep these fly facts in mind:

• The average house fly lives about 30 days.
• There are taste receptors in their feet.
• Different species prefer different types of food.
• They regurgitate digestive juices onto foods so that they can drink them.
• The compound eyes of the fly allow them to see behind them.
• While humans process 60 images a second, flies process 250.
• Flies are most active during the day, particularly those sunny and warm.
• They defecate all the time and everywhere.

Use any or all of these details, but be sure to give your fly a personality even if they just like to terrorize a certain human.

BONUS: Create fly slang using portmanteau!