Do you see this monster? Do you know what it means?

I still remember our first meeting like it was yesterday.

It's Already Too Late

^{You looked.}

I was walking. Walking along. That's what people did, back then.

I was carrying books. I was in a hallway. The reason? A bell rang.

We all obeyed, The Bell.

I was young.

^Naive.

One of the infected approached me. At the time, I had no idea he was sick. It was just a regular day.

He was staring at me. That was unusual. People didn't look at me back then unless I had something on my face. I thought it was mustard, again. I was wrong but I had no way of knowing how wrong until, after.

He's still looking at me as we got closer, and closer. Nobody else is looking at me. His friends aren't looking at me but one sports a suspicious grin. Am I about to get my ass kicked? Right here in the hallway? Like this? Now?

I can see things happen, even when I'm not looking. The cloudy portion of my vision detected movement. It was his hand. Was it all about to go down, or did he just want a shake?

I Looked!

^{I saw the monster for the first time.}

Then, before I could process exactly what I was looking at, the monster took control of this kid's fist and I was punched on the arm. That shit hurt. They all laughed. I was confused. Why did this all have to happen to me?

The Infection Spread

^{The monster had become the latest trend.}

This parasite never chose me to be a host but it's still hard to figure out how I survived the whole thing.

It went on for weeks and I had seen this monster living on the hands of other kids, which caused me to feel more pain on my arm, every time, instantly. I saw other kids getting bit, books falling. I can still hear the evil laughter. I hope I don't need pills for that.

Eventually, like all things,

^{the monster; it evolved.}

One day that monster caught me looking again and lunged straight for my nuts. Direct hit!

I dropped and...

---

---

You know what?

^{I can't talk about this anymore.}

I thought I was ready. I thought today was, The Day.

I can't go through with this. I can't go back. I can't relive this again. It's too much. Is it hot in here? I can't breathe. Open a window. Turn off that light. Okay, that's better.

No it's not. I have to go.

Bye!

Credits: _{All art and images seen here were produced digitally, by me. "The circle game."}

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