Fearful Things

Seasons: Summer

The hot pavement singed the soles of his shoes with each step. Hot. He lurched forward one foot at a time, suffocating in the unbearable heat. He swallowed and felt the blood from his shriveled tongue flow through the cracks in his throat. A snake, barely visible through the radiation rising from the ground, slithered lazily across the road in front of him and disappeared into the grass. The air settled like burning coal in his lungs. Why was it so hot? The sensation of damp fabric clinging to his skin itched at the back of his mind, but he barely had enough energy to move forward as it was. Sweat oozed from every pore, cascading down his body just to evaporate away the moment it touched the ground. Buzzing echoed from his surroundings. Flapping wings, rubbing legs, clicking cicadas, buzz, buzz, buzz, SO LOUD. He felt heavy. His insides screamed for water, but all he could do in return was wheeze. He wiped away a large drop of sweat from his cheek. And when he pulled his hand away, his face went with it.

The skin of his cheek stretched out like taffy stuck to his palm. He stared at it, unsure if it was bleary vision or heat stroke giving him hallucinations. The flesh began to sag down in the middle, pulling and tearing like dough. He quickly slapped the mass back onto his face. Slowly, he released it with a shaking hand. The malleable tumor stayed for only a second before rapidly sliding several inches down his face. Panicking, he squashed it against his face once more, his fingers sinking into the skin. He tried desperately to press it back in, but each time more and more of his face sagged with it. The sun beat down mercilessly. Hot. Hot. Hot. Sweat mixed with doughy flesh, giving it an oily texture that slipped even more easily through his grasp. His entire face was now melting as he strained to keep it from falling, frantically gathering up the drooping skin and squeezing it together as if he was made of Play-Doh. He lost his vision as his brow sank but regained it when his eyes slid down his cheeks. The cicadas grew louder, screeching in his ears which were almost completely detached from his head. Shut up shut up shut up.

He stabbed his fingers into the slime on his face and scraped bone. The skin of his fingers mixed with his face, and when he tried to pull back, strings of syrupy flesh stretched out and refused to let him go. It was his entire body now, blobs of meat falling onto the pavement. They sizzled, assaulting what was left of his nostrils with a horrible burning scent. His insides were so hot. The heat swelled within him, and his face began to bulge. Bigger, bigger, inflating into a gigantic balloon. Finally it popped, and a rain of blood seared him down to the bone. He wanted to scream, but his teeth had sunk down and sliced his vocal cords. His skin bubbled, somehow melting and boiling at the same time.

An insect buzzed loudly next to his head. He attempted to wave it away, but his arm was now indistinguishable from his head. The bug, a giant cicada, stuck itself in the layer of tissue between the two. It struggled, and he could feel its legs moving wildly against his skin. It started to click, and the vibrations rattled in his now visible skull. LOUD LOUD LOUD MAKE IT STOP. A dragonfly, a bee, then a beetle, a swarm of bugs swirled around him and crawled up his legs. One after another they landed on his mushy flesh and became trapped. He tried to run, but his feet had softened and fused to the ground. The bugs twisted and writhed, burying themselves deeper inside his sagging body. They squirmed through his veins and along his bones. His legs, most of which were now on the ground, collapsed under his own weight. He hit the ground with a wet splat. The scorching pavement fried his skin and made the bugs thrash faster. Muscle and tendon liquefied and tore from his skeleton as his viscous form slowly dispersed across the ground like molasses.

Hot Hot Hot Hot Hot Hot Hot Hot Hot Hot Hot-

Was all he could think as he melted into an unidentifiable glob of human meat. And when the heat finally subsided, it left no evidence that he ever existed at all.