READ THE STORY

“Ahhhh!”

“What?!”

“Look! There!”

“What? Where?!”

“It’s a bug! Right there!” 

“You scared me to death yelling like that. It’s fine, I’ll take care of it.”

“Kill it! Quick!”

“No, no, I’m just going to take it outside where it belongs.”

“Now we have an infestation?! I can’t handle all of this…” 

The calmer human scooped me up onto a piece of paper and gently escorted me outside. As they did, they felt comfortable speaking plainly to me.

“It’s okay little fella, we’ll just get you outside here. Don’t worry- my better half didn’t actually want you dead. We’ve just had a really tough few months. I lost my job somewhat out of nowhere. It was a shock but we’re doing okay. Then we endured a miscarriage. That one is going to linger. Woooo,” they breathed and continued, “and just when we thought it couldn’t get much worse- my mom passed. I don’t know if it was the culmination of all three but that one hit especially hard. We’d always joked she’d outlive all of us. She always took great care of herself. Honestly,” the human paused and looked up into the stars. They inhaled deeply. I could sense the immense strain these events had put upon them. They then exhaled heavily, “its maybe been the most harrowing time of my life, certainly of our lives together.” Their gaze turned from the stars down to me on the paper and they put on a smile. “BUT, that is no reason to take anything out on you, now is it?”

They gently placed the sheet of paper I stood upon against the cool evening grass. I returned their gaze knowing something neither this one, nor the partner could possibly know. Their luck would soon turn.

“There you go little guy- back off into the wild blue yonder you go! Could I ask of you just one favor? Could you wait to invite your friends over? Just for a little while. Maybe until we get a little more sure- footed?”

If I needed any more reassurance I had been in the right home, that was it. The human watched me hop off the paper, took one more look at the sky and returned indoors. Not only had they preserved my life, but I was very politely asked to merely give them space before I come calling again. They had no idea I would never return. A sole visit is all I require to do my work. My name is Venturo and by all outward appearances I seem a regular cricket. 

The truth is I have been alive far longer than any other cricket. In fact, I have been alive far longer than any single human. My lifetime would equate to several centuries of your human years. 

The couple I visited this evening, I heard their call from a great distance. Not one of pleading desperation, but one earnestly in need of a turn of luck. I have heard similar calls from so many. I remember the first. I was born just as my hundreds of brothers and sisters. Most of my life was conducted as theirs’. Where mine differed was a single crucial night. I perceived something they could not- a voice. A voice in the vast of night singing out clearly as could be. I felt drawn to it. I hopped toward it. I needed to investigate it. For miles I hopped until I came upon a small, damp living space occupied by one seemingly lonely human. They were weeping. Now, hundreds of years later, I cannot tell you if I felt as though I could help them, or if it was mere curiosity at their plight, but either way I found myself in their home. It was there I witnessed something miraculous. 

They sat alone by candlelight with crumbs for dinner. On their modest wooden table sat a lone letter. They had seemed reluctant to open it. But once I entered the home the mood shifted- however slightly. Through red eyes they opened their post and I watched their tears of sorrow cease. As they read, the tears gave way to a smile. As they read further still, the smile became laughter and the entirety of the home felt warm and optimistic. I did not know it at the time, but this effect is the power I have wielded since.  

I thought this event a curious one and counted myself lucky to have witnessed such joy. But as time went on, my brothers and sisters aged- I did not. As they passed- I did not. As my ties waned I could hear more calls from the humans. The more calls I heard, the more I chose to pursue. I don’t remember how long it took, or how many of these events I witnessed before I realized my power. I harbor a gift to bestow good luck on those whom I choose. By merely appearing in a human’s presence I can turn their luck from bad to good. 

So I wait and I listen. I hop. I travel from home to home, vessel to vessel. I’ve been on cars, in planes, hopped a ride in hot air balloons and zeppelins. I once perched atop a certain soldier’s helmet throughout a battle he would not have otherwise survived. I’ve been in the pockets of people as they were wrongfully imprisoned. I’ve shipped myself across continents via humans’ packages to one another. I’ve helped as many as I can. Some in big ways, some in small ways. I have no intention of stopping my pursuits. In the quiet, in the dark, when things are bleakest, I hear their suffering. I hear their pain. So I hop into action. 

Venturo the cricket jumped off into the night, his antenna acutely attuned to the next humans in need of a simple turn of luck.