Tens of thousands of screaming Miami Marathon runners poured out of Downtown skyscrapers in the predawn hours and sprinted toward MacArthur Causeway upon hearing that a flying cockroach was spotted around Bayfront Park.
“It’ll kill us all!” shrieked Fernando Juarez as he teared down Biscayne Boulevard. “Run for your lives, you fools!”
“Is it in my hair? It’s in my hair, isn’t it? Oh my God, it’s in my hair!” yelled Jeanette Osorio, waving her arms above her head.
Miami Marathon runners haphazardly threw shoes, newspapers, and rolled up socks without bothering to look behind them as they ran east toward Nikki Beach.
“Mami, mami, please!” sobbed Jesus Rodriguez into his cell phone. “Please come get the cucaracha!” he paused. “I’m not a sapingo! You’re the only one who can kill it!”
“There’s absolutely nothing to fear from the American cockroach,” explained Roger Daniels, a prominent University of Miami entomologist. “It’s a perfectly harmless insect that is key for decomposing… It just flew by my ear! Oh my God, we’re all going to die!” He then jumped into Biscayne Bay.
Miami Police Department’s SCAT (Special Chancletas and Tactics) unit has been deployed in an attempt to eliminate the airborne threat, but has yet to sufficiently steel themselves to face it.
“I can’t do this again, man,” explained Lieutenant Carlos Sacco, rocking himself on the pavement in full battle rattle. “I’ve got kids. I see them in my dreams! In my dreams!”
Miami Mayor Francis Suarez later called an airstrike on Downtown Miami. 45,000 pounds of high explosives were dropped on the city’s financial center, much to the relief of local citizens. A hazmat team armed with mumus, hair nets, and Vanidades magazines will be parachuted into the smoking crater to check on whether the cockroach was destroyed.
If you like our stories, check out our latest book.
Cowritten with Daniel Alonso
Andrew Otazo
'Miami Creation Myth' author Andrew Otazo has advised officials on Cuba policy, worked for the Mexican president, fired a tank, and ran with 30lbs of trash.
Check out the first free chapter of Andrew’s upcoming book here.