Influenza - January 29, 2012

[note: this was written during a writing exercise: we had 20 minutes to write something inspired by a picture we were shown. This is the result, unedited, exactly as it appeared when time ran out. You can read all of them in the waves category]]

Influenza - Squiddy Geiger - January 29, 2012

Patrick listened to the shuffling as the monster approached down the hall, the shuffling dragging feet, the wheezy wet breathing sounds preceding it. He sighed, knowing there was no escape.

The monster turned the corner; he saw it in all its majestic horror: streaming eyes and nose, blotchy red face with drool coming from one corner of the mouth. Hands clutched bits of tissue dripping with foetid, infectious waste.

The beast shuffled forward, hunched over, moaning with every step. Patrick waited patiently for it to arrive, for the inevitable. Finally it stopped in front of him. The horror spoke.

"Dad, I'm still sick. I don't have to go to school today, do I?" followed by a spasm of coughing.

"No, son. You didn't need to get out of bed," Patrick replied. "I was coming to check on you in a few minutes." He carefully placed the used tissues in a bowl and handed the boy some fresh tissues. "Go back to bed. I'll be there in a few minutes with some ginger ale for you and maybe some crackers, see if you can keep those down now."

Another coughing fit, followed by "Ok, Dad, but I'm missing a quiz today - and Miss Stelk doesn't give makeup quizzes even if you're sick."

"I know, but don't you worry about that," he said. "Get yourself back into bed, ok? That's an order."

The horror turned and shuffled off, with a muffled and wet sounding "ok, Dad," as it went. It coughed several times along the way. Patrick made a mental note to scour the floors. God, he hated sick days.

Posted by Squiddy at January 29, 2012 08:55 PM | TrackBack