There is something wrong with me!
I cannot hide it for much longer. With each passing day, it becomes more and more evident that I am different from everyone else. Concealing my secret for a short time was easy. I've always been regarded as the peculiar one in the family. The one who preferred isolation to the company of others. However, this is something else. This is something different, and my family is growing suspicious.
I avoid any close contact with anyone I encounter, but as I pass, I see the sideways glances and curious stares that linger in my direction just a bit longer than usual. Some even reach out to me with words of concern and offers of help if needed, but I draw away. I don't let them get too close to me. They would know, without a doubt, that I am different and I am dirty!
Once, there was a time when my entire world revolved around my mother. She spoke with such authority and strength, yet her voice was tempered with tenderness and affection. She could always be heard singing, and none could match her tone in sound or beauty. The beautiful melodies she created were the only reward I ever desired. It was all I ever needed. Until one day, I thought I heard the singing from another. For one brief moment, I listened to this strange voice instead of my mother. A momentary distraction, that's all it was. That was all it needed.
Nothing is the same anymore.
I go about my day and complete my chores.I do everything I am supposed to do, but it is different now. I am different. The sweet, soothing melody of my mother's voice echoes in the distance, but now there is another voice. This voice is dark and cold, and it clouds my mind and distorts my thoughts. It continually whispers to me from the darkness. At first, it was distant and far, but it grows closer with each second. It is so close that I feel its tongue flicking against my skin when it whispers. I cry out for help, but it restrains my speech. It takes control of my limbs and forces me away from the sight of others; my mother is completely unaware of my absence. I struggle with all my might, but it overpowers me and manipulates me like a puppet on a string. One leg in front of the other, it marches me out into the forest beyond the safety of my home, granting no rest or reprieve. Farther and farther away I go, the voice of my mother fades in the distance. Overcome with fear, I fight frantically to regain control of my body, and it answers my struggles. It sternly makes it known; it is much, more than just a mere voice in my head.
I can now feel it moving.
The pain in my skull is causing flashes of light to explode in front of my eyes as I shuffle onwards. It halts my body in an unfamiliar place, deep within the forest. An invisible hand forcibly grabs the back of my head and slams it to the ground. It pries my mouth open to an abnormal width and clamps my mandibles down on the long stem of a large and green leaf.
I feel the muscles in my six extremities being severed, making them useless and immobile. Its impatience to be free from its prison can be felt in its writhing and squirming. Its body slides and presses alongside the inner surface of my skull. The pressure and pain build, and the lights grow dim before my eyes.
Darkness falls over my eyes, and the chill of the forest floor creeps over me completely. Stillness and silence settle heavily upon me. Suddenly, I think I hear faint singing coming from the distance. It’s a melody I know very well; a tune often sung by my mother. It takes away all the fear and pain of the moment. I begin to hum along to the comforting lullaby.
Darkness falls completely with the explosion of a fleshy, wet stalk emerging from the top of my head.
Epilogue[]
The creature emerges from the shell that was its womb, glad to be rid of the vessel, now dead at its feet. It reaches up towards the sky, like the phoenix of old, and basks in its own magnificence. It is always invigorated by its rebirth.
It will now begin to grow; that is all it needs to do. In time, its spores will appear and start to fruit all over its body. The spores are separate but still of one mind and one body. They will leave this place and travel on the currents of the air and cross the lands near and far. They will search and listen for the voice of another royal mother. Their only desire is for her children to listen to its song instead of hers. Just a single moment is all it needs.
O. unilateralis is a specialized fungal parasite that infects, manipulates and kills formicine ants. It has been referred to as the:
- Zombie Ant Fungus
Under the control of the fungus, the Infected ants are forced to abandon their colony and travel along the forest floor where they will clamp themselves to the underside of a leaf and remain until death from the fungal spores emerging from the head of the ant.
Ophiocordyceps unilateralis
Latin- In the Broad Sense
Written by KillaHawke1
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