Mayflies are a rather peculiar animal known to proliferate in the warm summer months, not limited to the one spelled M-A-Y. These insects are typically yellow, but are also brown and gray, and are considered an original concept of the first insects. Though a prehistoric beast, they’re not large, rather they’re around an inch in length, but when traveling en masse, appear as broken clouds which grace the windshields and grills of our passing vehicles. Motorists who live near large bodies of water note that mayflies can solidify quite well on their paint and are often thought of as just a time-consuming expense to our beautiful cars. So little do we think of this poor insect; no thoughts of their own, no hobbies to pursue or objects to collect, and with a 24-hour adult lifespan, most would think they have no purpose in life. Though a simple creature, you may pity their life for its lack of luxuries and seemingly no goals. But if the mayfly could think, would it pity us? For what’s the life of a mayfly?
The mayfly enters the world as a nymph living underwater munching algae, but also harnessing energy. It flits about from one place to another dodging predators, in a trance of green without knowledge of body, self, or soul, and no recollection of places gone by or objects within the window of the eyes; it only knows the here, there, and the now. However, so valiant this nymph to obtain what it must to make the next stage of its life possible; for without this energy, it may never get to see out its meaning.
As an adult, the mayfly emerges from the watery depths into the open air. The mayfly then hovers, flapping its wings, propelling itself through the dense wind stifling its attempt at advancement. But it flies on, because it has developed an innate feeling through time, a feeling that has remained from the Devonian period, 400 million years ago.
The feeling that the mayfly succumbs to pulls at its inner thoughts and pushes all other obstacles within its mind out of view; a feeling that nothing else matters and with nothing else in its purview, it has only one thing on its mind. It does not know where this pull is coming from, but it has to, just has to, have sex. It spends roughly 98.976% of its adult life thinking and striving for the mate and it will do whatever it can; it will dodge the beaks of preying birds; careen off the clutches of bats as they use their sonar to hone in like a seawolf-class submarine; and dodge the passing vehicle as the owner makes their way to the local Starbucks to get through their day. So strong this pull, it has something built in, gracing the mayfly with the overwhelming feeling of (what can only be known as) purpose. And through all the obstacles, it continues unperturbed; it never stops and thinks, it just does with no fear of health, no knowledge of evils in the world, and no thoughts of the all-encompassing existential dread. For at the end of its time on Earth, and if it could think, it would surely count its life as one that was well lived, knowing that it made a strong attempt through success or failure.
So what is a mayfly?
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