So, I woke up today, opened my eyes and was astonished that I had 360 vision. Not only that, everything was way bigger than me. I couldn't see my body because it was covered with my blanket. I tried to push it off but for some reason it felt like the heaviest thing ever, not only that, I was trying to remove it with my giant green hooks! Where did my human hands go? 

Was I part of a terrible experiment conducted by the Lizard People? Was I abducted by aliens when I was sleeping? I finally managed to squirm out of my bed. I jumped down to the floor, climbed up to see myself in the mirror – I was a praying mantis.

I couldn't deal with this; it would've been okay if it was some other day but I have an exam today, this will determine a large part of my GPA. I tried my best to transform back into my human self by sheer willpower, just like those anime cartoons, but to no avail – stupid anime cartoons. Next, I did the only thing I was good at during that moment; I raised up my praying claws and prayed. I need to take that exam.  

I flew to the bathroom to brush my teeth only to realise I had these weird mandibles – couldn't even brush my teeth, I felt so dirty, my breath probably smells. I was hungry and I couldn't even open the cupboards because I'm so freaking small. I thought life as a human was hard, insect life is torture.

At that time, I saw a fly just sitting there, doing nothing. I had a flashback from when I was watching Animal Planet. This was my food. I channelled Bear Grylls into my tiny mantis body. I need proper nutrition to do well in my exam, I had no other choice. I slowly walked towards it, like a sneaky cat who turned into a mantis. With my huge hook-like arms I swooped the fly up and put it in my mouth faster than the blink of an eye. I felt powerful, like I was the king of the insect world. At that moment, I realized, not only did I turn into a mantis but a sadist as well.

I still hadn't transformed into a human yet. How will I go to class? I can't drive with these hooks, I can't even take a bus. I had an Idea, I'd just ask my mother to drop me there. I went to see my mother, I was sure she would recognise me even in this mantis body because she loves me so much. I flew to her room and made eye contact with her. 

I never heard a scream like that in my life.

My mother, who gave birth to me, screamed at me in utter horror. Was I that ugly? I've always heard that in the eyes of the mother, their children are the most beautiful in the entire world. I felt heartbroken. Why couldn't she look beyond my weird appendages? I had never seen this side of my mother before. She was crying, "Baba, koi tumi? Poka! Poka!" I'm was right there, mommy! Why couldn't you see your son's heart inside the green shell?

My own mother was trying to hit me, smack me, stomp me and kill me. Everything I ever believed in my whole life was wrong. Familial bonds were not as strong as I thought them to be. As I was flying around avoiding her attacks, the heavy fog in my mind went away – everything was clear then. At that time, I realised that this curse was a blessing in disguise. Why are there cat and dog shelters but no mantis shelters? Everyone's scared of insects but the real monsters are humans themselves.

I'm back in my room now, writing this with my mantis hands, hoping for kind-hearted humans (if there are any) to assist me to turn back into a human. If I had a choice I would just stay like this forever, helping my fellow mantis brothers but I have an exam to take.