Preemptive Strike

The unseasonable warmth of autumn
had me opening up all the windows
to my apartment to let in some fresh air.
After opening the last window of my bathroom,
I looked out admiring the leaves
of the trees beginning to change color.
I was lost in the reds and yellows
of the moment, when suddenly I noticed
out of the corner of my eye, a mosquito
dancing and darting up and down the inside
of the window screen, searching for an exit out. 
I guessed the week of rain and warm weather
had prolonged his existence into early November.
I knew his days were numbered and I felt
obliged to open the screen to let him escape
so that he could find a pool of water and a mate
to procreate, fulfilling a biological need.
I would not have to experience
his scions until next spring.

But then, I asked, “How did he get in?”
“Through a hole in one of the screens,
or a crack in the weather stripping?”
And what if he left to tell his mosquito
friends how to get in?  And what if they came
back bearing West Nile Virus or Malaria!!?
So, I asked myself, “What would George W. Bush do?”
and then I knew.  I squashed the bug into the screen
and wiped him away with a paper towel.
I then proceeded to close all the windows.
It is better to be hot and stuffy, then to be susceptible
to a biological health hazard.