For a month now I’ve had a housefly trapped between my window and screen. He. Won’t. Die. I’m pretty good at trapping them there but usually it’s in the summer and they only last a day or two for lack of water. Due to our typical Fall weather, this guy has stayed well hydrated and I guess he’s getting enough nutrients from the rainwater to keep going. That and maybe there’s some in the general gunk that collects on on the lower edges of windows, especially in the city.
Mostly he hangs out at the bottom, where he is out of sight and out of mind. But occasionally, he’ll climb up the screen a ways. Right now, he’s made it all the way to the top so he must still have quite a bit of strength left in his tiny fly muscles.
I never knew these guys lived so long. I guess I just assumed they hit adult stage, made a bunch of babies and died in a matter of days like many other insects. Part of me starts feeling sorry for him and wants to let him go, but then another part of me kicks in and says, “I’ve got all the time in the world, baby. I’m gonna see your carcass rot if it takes 'til kingdom come! BWAHAHAHA!!!”
Ahem
Oddly, I wouldn’t do this with a spider or bee. I like them. Flies, not so much.
Anyway, mundane and pointless? I’ve got you covered.
How do you know it’s a “he.”
I always wanted a pet fly. My parents always brought out the folded newspaper when they were present.
You are lucky to have hours of entertainment at hand. 
Wait. You’re physically capable of letting the guy out (he’s not trapped between two panes of window glass or anything), and you’re choosing not to? Who are you, Hitler? Let him go already. I’m serious.
Oh, aw shucks. OK, Martian Bigfoot, you’re right. I have done as you requested. The little guy is now free to fly about as he (or she) pleases. I guess I just needed to have a little guilting to do the right thing.
Just out of curiousity, though. Just how long do adult flies live anyway?
Nevermind. Google is my friend. Turns out they can live about 30 days. Hope the ones remaining for this one are full of good fly stuff.
Thanks for sharing. I love happy endings.
The only good housefly is a dead housefly.
(Wait. Is that threadshitting?)
Back in the day I would sometimes eat at a local dinner run by the Whistler’s mother sisters. Service was terrible and lets not even mention the health code violations.
But the food was good AND cheap.
If you sat in a window booth, it was the fly’s graveyard in the window sill/frame.
I always wondered if the flys there died of the food or old age.