Mr Peter was wearing a white protective gown and nylon shoes that matched the tiles. In front of him, ballooned eyes followed his hand gestures. 

Afterwards, he waved a grasshopper and an armoured cricket. The teacher clicked the tape recorder, and played chirping grasshoppers, alongside peeping crickets. 

Then he flashed a red pointer at the insects swaying their feelers on a screen. “Collect insects,” he said, while a battery-powered spider crawled in and out of his pencil-thin nose. 

“Sketch any six-legged bug,” he continued. In a blink, the tickled kids shuffled papers and musically tapped their needle-sharp pencils. By now, the bell jingled and Lely whizzed towards a rust-coloured tailgate car with a yellow bonnet. Minutes later, the pale-haired girl slipped her sweat-soaked feet into sandals. 

Then she strolled towards the singing birds along the rivulet. Suddenly, she stepped on a brown stick before the twig hopped away. “Sticks don’t fly,” she quizzed, chasing after it. Lely trapped the hopping twig inside a see-through jug and giggled as the insect bounced against the jug’s ceiling. Finally, she chased after an airborne grass and spread a plastic bag over it. 

This time, a running white grass caught her attention. “It’s a spider,” she whispered, counting the chicken pimples over her spaghetti-thin arms. 

Lely’s papa skids the car and the worn-out tyres threw stones at the windows. Then Papa tiptoed into her room, but wingless ants policing the room stung him. “Satan!” cried Mommy, after spotting a green flying stick. 

“Look at the devil,” yelled Papa, poking his index finger at the yellowish skipping grass. 

“You brought Satan into our home!” said Dad, dropping to his knees. “It’s a science project,” stuttered Lely, sobbing between her hiccups. 

Daddy crushed the flying stick with his boots and mom disfigured the yellow jumping grass with the sewing thimble. 

The posters of grass-like insects gummed to the wall tumbled to the floor. Mom hugged a black book with a red tongue and then knocked it on Lely’s head. The duo shouted tongue-twisting words and sprinkled olive oil over the girl’s hair. 

The next day, Lely’s parents stormed into Mr Peter’s class. “You’re Satanist,” yelled Lely’s mom, banging a bottle of holy water on a table. Three mayonnaise bottles stuffed with snakes rattled, while Lely’s papa draped marble crosses around each child. 

“These insects are called Satan,” Dad yelled, and his remarks triggered a stampede as the kids choke-up the door.