Flies in my Mailbox

Among all of my other weird habits is the one where I regularly release the flies from my mailbox.

Probably, I need to explain that.

As the summer draws to an end and the nights rapidly cool in these parts, all creatures seek warm places to overnight.  The hornets and box elder bugs swarm my home.  Mice start poking at corners and windows.  For some reason flies—sometimes by the dozen—find their way inside my mailbox down the road.  They never quite figure out how to escape again.  Either that or they are patiently waiting for my next Playboy magazine—not realizing that I cancelled my subscription long ago.  

Having learned that the flies overnight in my mailbox, I have developed the habit of stopping by my mailbox anytime I pass by, even when I know I do not have mail, just to open the door and release the trapped flies.

And off they go in a zizzing swirl.

Common courtesy, that.

--Mitchell Hegman