It starts as if hair is coming loose from your ponytail. For a few moments, it’s like someone is gently tugging at individual hairs on your head. Not enough to pull something out, but just enough for you to feel it. You get this vague sensation of something wrong, so you reach your hand back to check.
There’s a quick flutter of opaque wings, and then you turn around to find out that it’s a cicada.
Number of cicadas removed from my person this season: 5
Number removed from my hair: 3
I managed to get on the bus with nobody telling me anything. Maybe they all thought it was a hair ornament. Eventually, it clambered onto my backpack enough for me to grab it by the wings and drop it out a window.