Life Behind Glass By Kristen Bachman

     Steve is a very hard working man who never misses a day of work. He is very smart and always concerned about everyone else's well-being. Tuesday morning is what changed his life forever. Steve woke up that morning and stretched his arms and slowly began to work himself out of his bed. When he could not lift himself up he knew something was wrong. He began to uncover himself and look down slowly because he was afraid of what he would see. As the blankets began to reveal his body Steve was shocked at what he had just seen. Legs, legs of a bug. They were sticking to everything he touched. He knew he couldn't leave his house. This will be the first day of work Steve has ever missed.

     Steve is the care-giver of his family. He never thought twice of handing over his money to help out his mother and father. They were always tight on money and Steve was their only hope.

     His mother called up to him and told him he had a visitor. He was nervous, no one could see him in this condition. As the stairs began to creak he knew he had to hide. Steve crawled under his bed and yelled out the door saying he was not feeling well. His boss Tim was there to check on him. It was not usual for Steve to miss work so Tim knew something was going on. Steve said he would be back to work as soon as he was feeling better.

     After Tim left the house Steve crawled back on his bed. His mother walked up the stairs and slowly opened his bedroom door. She nearly fainted after seeing that Steve had gained characteristics of a bug. His face was still the same. The face of a hard working man. His body changed into a bug with seven legs and a hard shell like back. His mother ran down the steps screaming to everyone that something terrible had happened. The only thought running through her head was money. She worried that Steve would never be able to work again and they would become poor. Liz, Steve's sister, tried to come down there mother and say maybe he will change back to normal. After days of not changing the family came together to think of a plan.

     Liz thought of a brilliant idea that could even provide the family with an income. They would make advertisements for the human-bug that would draw everyone from around the world to there small town. The family will charge five dollars for every person to witness this creature. They built a glass tank for Steve to live in. The day had come that Steve was put out for the whole entire world to see. At first, he didn't mind all of the attention. They even fed him food. Old food from the garbage was thrown in to Steve's glass tank and he surprisingly loved it. People were visiting at all hours of the day and this left Steve no time to sleep or be alone. He grew tired and sad. All he wanted was to go back to normal.

     Steve's family was loving the attention he had brought in and of course the money. They hoped it would never end. They started to ignore Steve and his feelings and rarely let him out of his tank to roam the house. They would even forget to feed him and left him sad and hungry. One morning his mother went out to check on him and found him on his back not moving. She tapped on the glass and yelled at him to roll over. Nothing happened. Steve did not move.

     Visitors came to witness the human-bug and were disappointed at what they had seen. They complained and began to throw things at the home. The family hid inside not knowing what to do. They now had very little money left and would be forced to move. The next morning the family took down Steve's glass tank and removed him from it. They buried him beneath a tree in the backyard. They began to pack their belongings and took a train to a town that was hours away. They were forced to work for the rest of their lives. If only they had taken the time to notice how grateful they were for Steve.