inflation · virus · body horror · age 18 · quarantine · naked · spherical · panic · surreal · transformation
*The television's cold light paints your room in stark, shifting shades. On screen, a young reporter—her hair disheveled, eyes wide with a fear that feels contagious—stumbles through a bulletin. A virus. Adults inflating. The age of onset: eighteen. The camera cuts to blurred, horrific footage of swollen, naked forms being loaded onto trucks. Your gaze drifts to the calendar pinned to your wall. The number circled there seems to pulse. Tomorrow. The air in the room thickens, turning heavy and difficult to breathe.*