Peachy

 

Murder Hornets. The boy was obsessed with the seemingly armored flying ant ever since he saw them on the evening news. He could not stop thinking about them. About ways to combat them. He did not think using chemicals was ethical or fair. And he did not care for the smell. One afternoon his mother discovered him dressed in his older brother’s hockey goalie equipment and armed with his sister’s tennis racquet.

 

“Explain,” mother said.

 

“I don’t want to spray them with chemicals,” the boy said. “They look well protected with a hard shell exoskeleton, and it looks like they have wings of steel mesh!”

 

“Go on,” mother smiled intrigued by where this might be headed.

 

“So I plan a good overhand swat,” the boy demonstrated with an awkward encumbered movement of his right arm hindered by an oversized waffle pad. “And zoom! They will be driven far enough away and disoriented.”

 

“What will?” mother asked.

 

“The Murder Hornets!” the boy exclaimed incredulously.

 

“Peachy,” one of mother’s favorite words. And her nickname for little brother. “Peachy, come with me.” She led her son into the forbidden zone of her office and stood him in front of the big person computer screen on her desk. His head just peering over its edge. She uses a search engine to find the object of her son’s concern and fixation.

 

“See?” she asked as a photo of the wasp appeared making her son take a step back in fear. “The scientific name for this insect is Vespa Mandarin,” she said reassuringly.

 

“VESPA!” Peachy laughed and approached the desk once more no longer afraid. “Like the motor scooter!” he laughed.

 

“Yes,” mother said with a smile.

 

“Ciao!” Peachy exclaimed.

 

Mother laughed. “Yes, Ciao, Eddie Izzard, you remember.”

 

Peachy likes saying “Ciao!”

 

“They originated in Asia and are found on the West Coast of the United States. Do we live on the West Coast?” Mother asked.

 

“No,” Peachy said. “We live on the East Coast.”

 

“That’s right,” mother said patting him on his hockey mask helmet. “It also says here that they are attracted to…”

 

“Tree sap!” Peachy read.

 

“That’s right, tree sap, and not little boys. Just like with regular wasps, leave them alone. OK? So what did you learn here today, hmm?”

 

“That the computer is magic?” Peachy asked.

 

“No, the computer is a tool where we can research knowledge. We learn here that science can calm our fears. Now go and take this outfit off and put that tennis racquet back before your brother and sister pitch a fit.”

 

“OK,” Peachy said running to the office door where he turned and shouted “Ciao!”