Twitch.
It was three AM, and I couldn’t sleep. I lay in bed with my eyes open, waiting for the next muscle spasm.
Twitch.
“It’s just a cramp, drink water and eat bananas.” The doctor had said. But that was four days ago, and the sensation hadn’t subsided.
Twitch.
It was getting worse. My entire back rocked that time, and the mattress springs creaked louder than my agonized moan. I sat up and placed a hand against my spine, feeling for the bulge. My fingertips brushed against it and it quivered, tightening.
Twitch.
There was a feeling between my vertebrae like they were being separated, as if someone was forcing a meat cleaver between the segments. I tried to lay back down, but my back wouldn’t straighten. My bones were locked upright. I rushed to the mirror, flipping on the lights and twisting to see the bulge. It was red, angry, like a boil of knotted muscle.
Twitch.
I gasped as it slid upward. There was a shape beneath the skin, almost a shadow, as something swam toward the surface. The bulge protruded and the skin stretched to the point of popping until I felt my back muscles snap. A six inch long spindly leg broke the surface, followed by seven more that emerged from my flesh, wrenching out an oversized abdomen.
Twenty of other spiders surried the first, swarming my body and latching deep into me with their fangs. I fell, my insides empty, and moved for one last time as toxin overtook me and their feast began.
Twitch.
It was three AM, and I couldn’t sleep. I lay in bed with my eyes open, waiting for the next muscle spasm.
Twitch.
“It’s just a cramp, drink water and eat bananas.” The doctor had said. But that was four days ago, and the sensation hadn’t subsided.
Twitch.
It was getting worse. My entire back rocked that time, and the mattress springs creaked louder than my agonized moan. I sat up and placed a hand against my spine, feeling for the bulge. My fingertips brushed against it and it quivered, tightening.
Twitch.
There was a feeling between my vertebrae like they were being separated, as if someone was forcing a meat cleaver between the segments. I tried to lay back down, but my back wouldn’t straighten. My bones were locked upright. I rushed to the mirror, flipping on the lights and twisting to see the bulge. It was red, angry, like a boil of knotted muscle.
Twitch.
I gasped as it slid upward. There was a shape beneath the skin, almost a shadow, as something swam toward the surface. The bulge protruded and the skin stretched to the point of popping until I felt my back muscles snap. A six inch long spindly leg broke the surface, followed by seven more that emerged from my flesh, wrenching out an oversized abdomen.
Twenty of other spiders surried the first, swarming my body and latching deep into me with their fangs. I fell, my insides empty, and moved for one last time as toxin overtook me and their feast began.
Twitch.