It was hungry. Hungry for life. It had been dormant for centuries, buried deep in the ice. But now, it was awake. And it wanted to feed.
It sensed a warm body nearby. A human. A perfect host. It moved swiftly, silently, invisibly, like a vicious poison. Silently and stealthily, it infiltrated its quarry - slipping through each breath, every sip, each glance of curious eyes. Within moments, it began its takeover, hijacking the very cells that comprised the host. Cloning its genetic code endlessly, it proliferated at pandemic speed, infecting his lungs, his heart, and his brain. It triggered a massive immune response, causing inflammation, fever, and pain. Yet for the parasite, this was merely the opening gambit - it feasted ravenously on the last bits of being, It destroyed his tissues, his organs, and his system. It consumed the life force, the energy, the soul.
‘Could I have made some mistakes?!’ He panicked, but all his thoughts were in vain because he had no more time remaining.
It was satisfied. Satisfied for a moment. But then, it felt a new hunger. A hunger for more. More life. More hosts. More worlds.
It was not alone. It had offspring. Millions of them. And they were hungry too…
© Shree Mukherjee