Secrets

The Life Changing Revelation

And so she understood that they were different. The revelation has not settled, yet. It will take time before things will get crystal clear. All the same, clear or not, she needed to accept everything. My, Oh my!

What does a Praying Mantis do? Do they pray or do karate? There were many questions in her mind. She needed to prepare for the great day when she will find a mate. And then what? Eat him? Horrible! Is there any other way? She heard that not all female mantises ate their mates. That was only possible if the female mantis did not get hungry in the process, her mother explained.

There was a place where all male mantis were prepared for the day of sacrifice. From birth, male mantis were trained to be submissive and welcoming to what their lot must be. They were trained never to question anything. Their happiest moment would be the day when they will have to give their lives for the propagation of their species. "Blessed day!" Their mothers always taught them to think of that day and be filled with excitement and anticipation.

Human scientists made several attempts to study the behavior of the mantis. There was one group who studied the whole life cycle of the mantis and almost concluded that the mantis were not sexual cannibals, afterall. They were closely monitoring the perimeter of their area of study with several high definition cameras. On the last day, they got their greatest surprise when right before their eyes, they witnessed what other scientists before them have already recorded.

Entomologists have marveled at such unique but horrifying behavior of the mantis. Studies showed that male mantises were much smaller than the female, who carried the responsibilty of securing the genetic code after mating. Many differences were found across species. What scientists have never discovered was this particular specie of the morphing humantis.

Carol told her daughter how in the 1800s their colony was almost discovered by missionaries who fearlessly braved the Southern Hinterlands of Negros Island. They never succumbed and instead of being converted and discovered they chose to commit genocide.

Carol's great great grandmother was the daughter of the chieftain of the humantis colony. At the time the chieftain ordered the genocide, her great great grandmother, Nympha, was newly wed. It was the day after the sacrifice and her survival instinct was at its peak. She had to find a safe place where to hide her ootheca. So by sunrise when the whole colony burned to extinction Nympha had already leapt to safety.

The first lesson for Anne was the art of morphing. From human form, she needed to morph into her mantis form and back again to human form. She needed to master the skill. It was a good thing she had a mother who could show her the way.

Baby mantises hopped out of the ootheca or egg sack when hatched. And voila! They knew their way to life from day 1.

The humantis needed closer supervision, however. They needed their mothers until they were 12. This was because of the secret they kept. You should not underestimate their survival instincts because that was deeply embedded in them from the moment they emerged from the ootheca.

Among purely insect species, an ootheca contains 200 baby mantises. Giant Asian Mantis' oothecas have less. And humantis' oothecas have space only for one nymph.

"Mantids have five eyes. We have binocular vision. It is said that a Praying Mantis is probably the most intelligent of all insects," Carol explained to Anne. And humantids must be the most intelligent among humans. Mantises strike with spiky hands with speed double than the blink of a human eye. We move faster than a snake. Best of all we have the ability to blend in with the background that makes us invisible to our prey. We have the ability to sit for a long time watching and waiting. Our hands held together in a praying stance are our best weapon to immobolize our prey.

Anne was speachless as she listened to her mom. She was so excited to start her training after her mom's lecture. "Everything is awesome!" she wanted to sing a song she learned from a movie she saw in class back when they were stil in human society.

How long time ago it seemed! It was only last night when they made this life changing journey! Haven't they? Her mom was right, it was all up to her.

Now, she's definitely hooked to the secrets of their family. She knew more will be coming!