Matters Much

There is a negative Nelly living deep within my brain His complaints are always different, yet they’re really all the same The soundtrack he lays down is one of cacophonous strife A circuitous litany on the grievances of life He cannot see the awe in scudding clouds through window panes All he sees are heavy … Continue reading Matters Much

The End of Mankind

This is December’s offering to Gobblers/Masticadores, a strange story inspired by an infection called Wolbachia which is found amongst anthropods and isopods. When infected, male woodlice can turn into female woodlice who then only produce female offspring. The world is a weirdly wonderful place!

Gobblers & Masticadores

by Rae Cod

“How long has he been infected with the parasite, Mr Kant?” asked Doctor Fenton, keeping her face as neutral as possible. This was the tenth case presenting with intensive acceleration they’d had this week. The patient – the host – was under sedation in isolation; isolation to supposedly protect others from the parasite, sedation to protect the patient’s own sanity: the National Health Service just didn’t have the resources to deal with something like this.

“He was infected in the first wave, so I guess about six months ago, we’ve been really careful since then, followed the guidelines not to touch…except…”

Dr Fenton’s ears pricked up, “except?”

“His birthday, three months ago, it was just the once…it’d been so long since either of us…and his symptoms seemed under control…”

“Did you use protection”

“No,” said the husband – Mr Kant, Doctor Fenton reminded herself. She must remember to…

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Torrent

by Rae Cod The icy deluge continued to pour, stinging his face and plastering his shirt and jeans to a body which a few days ago had felt strong, but… Torrent

Shield Bug

I'm Palomena PrasinaOf the order HeteropteraI might look a little toughdon't let the exterior scare 'yaI'm a knight in shining armourA truer bug you'll never findPurpose woven in the fabricOf a pattern well designedI'm a family bug; my sigil:Protector of the landSome might call me stinkybut they don't understandI'm the bottom of the pyramidThe stone … Continue reading Shield Bug

Bust

It’s time for this month’s short story offering. I wrote this one a while ago for a short story competition (it didn’t win) and posted it on the blog last year. The brief was to write a story set at a bus stop with Bus in the title, I wonder if my title was bending … Continue reading Bust