[The Little Human and Microbe Series] The Microbe’s Favorite Things

You take a few steps into the sea of fermentation.

All the microbes are quietly eating away.

"Huh?"

Looking more closely,
you notice one microbe who seems to be taking a break,
sipping some tea,
and slowly munching on something that isn’t sugar.

You:
"Hello. I'm Taro, a human. What's your name?"

Microbe:
"Hey there, nice to meet you.
I'm a microbe named Fir.
There are lots of us named Fir, though.
This is the first time I’ve met a human.
What’s the human world like?
What do humans usually do?"

You:
"Well... we don’t eat all the time, I guess."

Microbe:
"You don’t eat? I can't believe it.
Then what do you do when you're not eating?"

You:
"Um, we go to school or play with friends."

Microbe:
"What? That’s weird.
If you're not eating, doesn’t everything feel boring?"

You:
"Not really.
By the way, what are you eating?"

Microbe:
"This? It’s protein."

You:
"You don’t eat sugar?"

Microbe:
"Of course I do! I love sugar the most.
But if I eat only sugar all the time,
sometimes I just want to eat something different.
Protein's actually pretty tasty too."

You:
"Oh, I see. So you can eat other things too."

Microbe:
"Well, other than sugar,
I mostly stick to protein."

You:
"Wow! Then what happens to the leftovers?"

Microbe:
"Ah, no worries!
My buddies take turns eating what’s left.
For example, this guy Baku (short for Bacteria) loves dietary fiber.
It’s a bit tough for me, though."

You:
"So nothing goes rotten or spoiled?"

Microbe:
"Exactly!
As long as fermentation is happening, we beneficial microbes are in charge.
There’s no room for the bad guys—like spoilage bacteria—to get in!

By the way, what’s your favorite food?"

You:
"Me? I love ice cream!
I could eat a whole bucket of it."

Microbe:
"What! Same here!
Out of all sugars, ice cream is my favorite too.
But I bet I could eat two buckets!"

You:
"Wow! But wouldn’t that hurt your stomach?"

Microbe:
"We don’t even have stomachs!
So no matter how much we eat, we’re totally fine.

By the way, if there was ice cream right in front of you, would you eat it?"

You:
"Of course I would!"

Microbe:
"When would you eat it?"

You:
"Right now."

Microbe:
"See? You'd eat it right away, wouldn't you?
That means we’re the same.

I just always eat ice cream because it's always right in front of me."

You:
"You're right. We really do get along well."

Microbe:
"Yeah! But in the human world, you’re not always eating ice cream, right?"

You:
"Yeah, that’s true. We go to school, hang out with friends..."

Microbe:
"Hmm, how curious.
We’re always eating—and we enjoy it so much.
You should eat more ice cream too!"

You:
"That’s tempting...
but humans have limits, you know. (laughs)"