Parasite

The jungle sun scorched the traveler's skin, which was blanched and unfamiliar with the tropical intensity. Though he'd slathered on coats of sunscreen, the young man was sure his skin would blush red by the day's end. The sun extorted a flood of moisture from his skin, and even though he swabbed his forehead twice a minute, the salty fluid slipped down and stung his eyes. His long lashes already fluttered rapidly due to all the dirt in the air; the added sweat nearly blinded him.

The traveler had initially balked at the idea of setting forth on the expedition, an opportunity his old college mentor offered him the year before. The traveler's work consisted of writing papers and assisting other teachers; it was unchallenging, but he had been content work. However, he recently wed his longtime fiancé, who just months after became expectant. They scrimped funds as it was, and the expedition offer came with a tidy cash sum. With a grimace, the traveler thought back to his wife at home. He hoped she was happy, since it was for her he trudged through the suffocating jungle.

Suddenly, an all too familiar whine filled his ear. During his travels, he learned to avoid local shops, but he'd needed bug spray and figured buying it local was better than not buying at all. The shopkeeper had been eager to sell, and the man had assured him not a single insect would bite. Yet, here he was, itchy and covered in bug bites. With a flick of his hand, the traveler swatted the hungry mosquito, before the creature could reach its meal. He wiped his hands clean of the blood and continued onward, muttering to himself.

(Parasite, parasite)

The trash can rattled as the homeless man scavenged through it. The odor reeked from the rotting goods, and the mold growths exuded a spoiled scent; however, it was the man's first meal in days, and so his nose twitched in anticipation as the smell of food rose into the summer air. Though he pawed through the trash, his fingers gnarled and ached, long since rendered useless. When he finally found a piece of food, he speared it with one pointed nail. The business, a run-down diner, had thrown out some aged bread the last evening. Though it tinged green with the beginning of rot, the homeless man eyed the slice with greed and grinned. When his lips pulled back, they revealed a dark cavern guarded by yellow stalactites that dripped with malodorous moisture. He brought the bread to his lips, teeth prepared to lunge.

Before he could bite, however, the diner's back exit opened. A beam of light flashed directly into the homeless man's black eyes. His pupils shrunk to beads, and he blinked in shock. Then, the man turned and scurried off into the darkness of the ally, his wheezing turning into pained squeaks in the distance. The diner's owner stormed out the door and cursed into the darkness after him.

(Parasite, parasite)

The wife sat in front of her vanity, brushing long locks of golden hair. Her tresses were already smooth, but she continued to run the brush through them. Any minuscule knot, any tangle, any imperfection in her locks, she tore apart. Her cheeks paled by the day, as did the rest of her body. However, no one saw the rest of her skin, else someone may have noticed blue-purple bruises stained most of it. The skin that did remain visible blanched by the hour. It whitened even when her husband, who had bought the expensive vanity she used, was absent. She feared his fists, which struck once or twice a month, but feared his presence more. Even when he was physically gone, his presence weighed upon her, more heavily even than when he struck her down. The blood drained from her skin, and her life retreated inward. If she was with him, life of her own was unnecessary. He was her blood, her life force; He gained the color and vitality that she had lost and bore it for her. The wife was past the point of tears, and long since lost all sense of regret. She stared straight into her reflection's eyes and whispered.

(Parasite, parasite)

Paper littered the writer's desk, along with other miscellaneous items that appeared to serve no purpose but to worsen the state of disarray. Leftover wrappers, mostly from food packages, piled up on one side, where bacteria likely bred in excess. Lying open on top of the mess, however, a singular notebook took center stage. Inside, the young girl scribbled notes, though most ended up unfinished. The blue ink bled onto the paper, and her wrist raced faster, faster, more urgently, though her handwriting suffered. Individual letters squished and squeezed until they became minute blobs of ink. They were so small, that the girl squinted just to tell apart the splotches. The inkblots began to blur until, even from the paper, they became indistinguishable. Finally, she collapsed and laid her head on the pillow of papers. The sea of blue became one of black as her eyes clenched shut. So jammed were her thoughts that her hands refused to write, and all that emerged were incoherent rambles. Her shoulders sagged with the pressure of a million failures, and her veins clogged with the ink of a million unwritten texts. As she lifted her head, her eyes saw naught but the failed scrawls in her notebook. She opened her mouth to scream to the world that had cast judgment upon her so young, but all that emerged was a choke.

(Parasite, parasite)

And all the while, the humans pried their hands into the earth, where they clawed until their fingers spurted blood. They tore into the planet's veins, buzzing louder even as their phalanges wore down to stumps. 'Victory!' they cried, and a million feet danced upon the torn flesh. The people lowered their lips to the earth's black blood, and gorged themselves until the wound dried. And as they marched onward for the next, and then the one after, the veins from which the people stole grew fewer. The heart pumped harder and slower, as the humans shredded the skin and guzzled the blood. The ground groaned beneath the pressure of billions of beings, and the planet sweated under the strain, helpless but to cry in silence to the ignorant species.

(Parasite, parasite)