The Law of Natural Selection
by Jack Swenson
Tony taught biology. He was an early riser, and he would get to school at four or five in the morning. As he walked down the sidewalk from the parking lot to the science building, he would crunch the snails under his feet. He was God, he said. Some lived; some died. It was the way things worked. The law of natural selection.
Tony was a big Italian with a red beard and fierce blue eyes. The students loved him. They would bring him things. Birds with broken wings. Live mice for the snakes. Once a student brought him a jar of black widow spiders. Tony put it on his desk. Somehow the jar got tipped over, and the spiders got out. He discovered this one afternoon when he woke up from a nap at his desk. He would tell a visitor not to worry. He would find them eventually, he said.
He liked to have visitors in his general science class when he fed the snakes. He had the creatures in glass cages on a long bench under a bank of windows. He fed the snakes live mice. One day he asked me if I wanted to watch. I said no thanks.
One day I asked Tony why he decided to get a degree in biology. He said he had always liked and admired animals. He was born and raised in Cleveland, he said. People there didn't like people who were different. Folks were always squabbling and causing each other trouble. Animals are better than people, he said. For the most part they live and let live. They don't go looking for trouble. If they had bigger brains, we'd be the ones in cages, and the world would be a better place.
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Author's Note
More truth than poetry.
'Tony' lost my sympathy/good will with the snails bit. Interesting piece, like a character portrait. Cool. Think you'll use him in something else, maybe a longer piece?
"If they had bigger brains, we'd be the ones in cages, and the world would be a better place." Still thinking about that. . . fave
Can't help but strike a chord in all of us, whether a small part of our heart or our mind. Nicely done, Jack.
Solid writing, Jack. The form and voice in your pieces never falter.
"He liked to have visitors in his general science class when he fed the snakes. He had the creatures in glass cages on a long bench under a bank of windows. He fed the snakes live mice. One day he asked me if I wanted to watch. I said no thanks."
I like. Great closing.
You got a true character going here with Tony, let's see some more of him. I enjoyed this a lot.
Jack! Your character-driven stories always entrance me. This one is no exception. I like all the natural life sprinkled in like bird seed.
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Nice, Jack. Like how you've built the character of Tony here.
I like the way "the law of natural selection" is written and also that Tony was aware of the absurdity of this through his sense that animals were superior to people. *
Yeah, except for crunching snails under his feet, Toni's cool. Cleveland is almost as bad as Detroit, which is good. And they both have some very different people living there. Animals are better than people? That's something to think about. Excellent writing.
I meant to say Tony, of course.
oh, did those snakes have to eat live mice???? Kill them first please.
"More truth than poetry."
Poetry nonetheless.
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yes, it would, but it's not.
fave
The detail of the black widow spiders released in the room is perfect because it creates Hitchcockian suspense to balance Tony's live-and-let-live calm.
Ipso facto.
Nice job.
Deep thought.
Love the complexity of this character presented in so few words!