For a long time i thought i made them up, as i only saw them on the wall of my grandparents'
basement in
Henrietta, NY, when no one else was there. They would
ripple up and down and sideways, with their
creepy many-legs like one
continuous feather-leg. They would
twitchy nervous-like
traverse the wall at the bottom of the stairs.
Later, they showed up in my room at Bard. I was almost relieved that Willa could see them too. I was not relieved that they would appear unannounced when we were unprepared to deal with them. Willa one day changed her sheets and found one in her bed. That was bad. They were also known to live under the bed, so we did not appreciate it when Rocky Moonie pushed Willa under the bed.
There are not many animals that i fear, but feather-bugs will not cease to give me the howling fantods. We would kill them much as Orin Incandenza killed roaches: put a mug or glass over it, and leave it there until it was totally dead and dessicated. Then sweep the room and sterilize the glass. No Jainists, we.