You said you wanted to give me something.

You had a gift for me, you said. How exciting! It had to be a surprise, of course. It had to. You asked me to hold out my hand, pushed something into my palm before I could even see what it was. Your eyes were bright, and your grip was very strong.

It was sharp and cold and alive and you held my fingers shut as it slithered under my skin. It was gone before I could dig my nails into myself to try and dig it out. It was gone before I could take it in with any of my senses but touch and pain. It hurt so badly, at first. I don't think I even had the mind to scream. But that only lasted a little while.

You looked so happy. I would have thought it was a prank if I couldn't feel the wriggling.

I feel like I am wearing a suit made of sinew and skin.
I feel like I am the suit.
I feel like I am made of sinew and skin.
I feel like there is something scraping at my bones and hollowing them out.
I feel like I am the suit made of hollow bone.
I feel like I am scratching at the suit.
I feel like I am the suit.

I feel











The hole where it burrowed into me never closed. It doesn't bleed, it doesn't sting or ache - it is a wet, pink pit in my palm. It stretches with the muscles around it, a tiny failure of my body's defenses. Myiasis around the absence of a maggot.

Something thick and half solid bubbles at the back of my throat. My flesh feels mealy and granular under my skin. I've been seeing movement in my periphery for weeks.

What did you 'give' to me?

What did you do?