taken an hour to kill off the horde that filled my room. Their smashed, black bodies dotted a white bathroom towel. Their grisly deaths merely added to the existing kaleidoscope of stains.
I thought I got them all. Only you never get them all. One always survives. When the world finally comes to an end, one mosquito will be left. When the last human breathes its last breath and our species vanishes from the pages of history, a mosquito will be there to poke its annoying stinger into the newly deceased body’s pinkie finger. Right on the knuckle.
Guaranteed.
Damp hair stuck to my neck. I scratched it away and wiped the beading sweat off my forehead.
The whine of a mosquito approached. I lay still, trying to hone in on it. Like Luke with the blast helmet on. I clapped the air in triumph. Sure I got it this time.
The buzz continued. It circled my head.
I waited for another strike.
It buzzed louder.
And then went straight inside my ear!
I flew out of bed. Its legs and wings a furious tickle. I slapped my head with the palm of my hand. Deaf shock hit me. I almost fell over. It however was unaffected. An air siren blared in my ear. Louder than any one centimeter monster had a right to be.
I flailed at my ear, trying to stop the tickling, struggling beast. I jammed a pinkie finger in and pumped it in and out until the buzzing died.
In my ear.
Disgusting.
I moved to the bathroom and noticed the bedsheets stuck to my butt, trailing behind like a fairy tale dress. I kicked it to the ground, pinkie still digging in my ear to clear out the remains. The tickling, dead mass of it refused to budge.
I flicked on the bathroom light and waited for it sputter to life. I whipped my pinkie out for examination. A couple of squished legs stuck to the tip. Which meant the rest was still in my ear.
Thank you, Florida.
I turned on the cold water—what a misnomer—and splashed it into my ear. Eventually, the soaked carcass fell out and stuck to the side of the sink. Thank god I saw it. I seriously required evidence of its evacuation. Sleep was hard enough without having to wonder if the little bloodsucker was rotting away inside me.
It could end up locked in ear wax. Forever preserved like scientists find those ones in amber. Maybe amber was dinosaur ear wax. Like an archaeologist, some med student would find it someday as they dissected my body.
A fascinating and rare case. Not the dead, stuck-in-earwax mosquito. That would be the cherry on top. I knew my condition was going to make some soulless med student’s semester.
Someday. Someday sooner than was fair.
I’d have to officially donate my body first. My license still didn’t have that box ticked. I kept meaning to. Considering my situation, it felt like surrender. My body had surrendered before the fight could even begin. Procrastinating on signing the donation form was my final token resistance. My hopeless refusal to accept reality.
Maybe if I survived the heat and hoards of mosquitos. Then I’d sign it.
Of course, if I didn’t make it safely back to Earth, mosquitos and med students would have to find another victim anyway.
CHAPTER THREE
I splashed tepid water on my face. One hour in the hot Florida sun made my face look like I’d been slapped by an angry lover. My normally pale skin was bright pink. I’d probably peel. Even my breasts were blushed. That was probably the heat. I didn’t do topless beaches. Not gonna catch me baring it all to the world.
I liked my breasts. It wasn’t that. They were curvy and deserving of far more attention than they ever got. My belly was generally still flat thanks to a high school swim career. Pizza and college were changing things though.
I missed swimming. The thought of swimming naked in the ocean sounded pretty awesome. The outside of my body wasn’t the problem. The problem was on the inside.
My insides had transformed my life into one ginormous peep show. The thought of voluntarily attracting more attention
I thought I got them all. Only you never get them all. One always survives. When the world finally comes to an end, one mosquito will be left. When the last human breathes its last breath and our species vanishes from the pages of history, a mosquito will be there to poke its annoying stinger into the newly deceased body’s pinkie finger. Right on the knuckle.
Guaranteed.
Damp hair stuck to my neck. I scratched it away and wiped the beading sweat off my forehead.
The whine of a mosquito approached. I lay still, trying to hone in on it. Like Luke with the blast helmet on. I clapped the air in triumph. Sure I got it this time.
The buzz continued. It circled my head.
I waited for another strike.
It buzzed louder.
And then went straight inside my ear!
I flew out of bed. Its legs and wings a furious tickle. I slapped my head with the palm of my hand. Deaf shock hit me. I almost fell over. It however was unaffected. An air siren blared in my ear. Louder than any one centimeter monster had a right to be.
I flailed at my ear, trying to stop the tickling, struggling beast. I jammed a pinkie finger in and pumped it in and out until the buzzing died.
In my ear.
Disgusting.
I moved to the bathroom and noticed the bedsheets stuck to my butt, trailing behind like a fairy tale dress. I kicked it to the ground, pinkie still digging in my ear to clear out the remains. The tickling, dead mass of it refused to budge.
I flicked on the bathroom light and waited for it sputter to life. I whipped my pinkie out for examination. A couple of squished legs stuck to the tip. Which meant the rest was still in my ear.
Thank you, Florida.
I turned on the cold water—what a misnomer—and splashed it into my ear. Eventually, the soaked carcass fell out and stuck to the side of the sink. Thank god I saw it. I seriously required evidence of its evacuation. Sleep was hard enough without having to wonder if the little bloodsucker was rotting away inside me.
It could end up locked in ear wax. Forever preserved like scientists find those ones in amber. Maybe amber was dinosaur ear wax. Like an archaeologist, some med student would find it someday as they dissected my body.
A fascinating and rare case. Not the dead, stuck-in-earwax mosquito. That would be the cherry on top. I knew my condition was going to make some soulless med student’s semester.
Someday. Someday sooner than was fair.
I’d have to officially donate my body first. My license still didn’t have that box ticked. I kept meaning to. Considering my situation, it felt like surrender. My body had surrendered before the fight could even begin. Procrastinating on signing the donation form was my final token resistance. My hopeless refusal to accept reality.
Maybe if I survived the heat and hoards of mosquitos. Then I’d sign it.
Of course, if I didn’t make it safely back to Earth, mosquitos and med students would have to find another victim anyway.
CHAPTER THREE
I splashed tepid water on my face. One hour in the hot Florida sun made my face look like I’d been slapped by an angry lover. My normally pale skin was bright pink. I’d probably peel. Even my breasts were blushed. That was probably the heat. I didn’t do topless beaches. Not gonna catch me baring it all to the world.
I liked my breasts. It wasn’t that. They were curvy and deserving of far more attention than they ever got. My belly was generally still flat thanks to a high school swim career. Pizza and college were changing things though.
I missed swimming. The thought of swimming naked in the ocean sounded pretty awesome. The outside of my body wasn’t the problem. The problem was on the inside.
My insides had transformed my life into one ginormous peep show. The thought of voluntarily attracting more attention
Similar Books
