Ruby Rose
Location: Canadian Prairies
‘Tis a bit of a “goosebumps” story. My late Mom was my best critic for all my stories years ago. Upon receipt of the following story my Mama phoned me immediately to say, “If your intent is to scare me, you did—thanks for nothing,” and then she hung up. Enjoy!
Stefane's vocal anguish in the airspace resounded like an accompaniment to Rodin's 'Gates of Hell'. The echo of his screams wounded and disconcerted all other senses as it travelled from one security camera to the other...captured forever...then the exquisite silence of the absence of breath in a human body was heard...soundless and tranquil.
In 1980, Stefane, a French scientist arrived at the University of Colorado in Boulder and found himself standing in front of a door with the Japanese words "Denshi Yama" meaning "Mount Electron" written on a sign. Stefane was a slight man but personable in appearance with an ebullient glint to his striking cobalt blue eyes. He was thirty-five years of age and had just returned from Japan from a self-imposed two year sabbatical of learning new disciplines in the study of the invisible world of inner space. As many before him, Stefane had now become a wonder-struck voyager in the minuscule world of micro-organisms and now considered himself well versed with the worlds within worlds, other existences...be it as small as mites that are to be found all over the world. Stefane was eager to continue his studies with the excellent team of scientists utilizing one of the world's largest electron microscopes that uses a million-volt beam of electrons versus beams of light or lenses with the ability of magnifying twenty million times. It was now even possible to examine live insects and to release them.
Every day was an adventure as Stefane viewed the surrealist appearance of the minuscule world, finding the revealed images of three-dimensionality that were produced truly remarkable to the human eye. Exhilarated and totally absorbed in his work at the University, Stefane perpetually transmitted images from the inner space to his brain which were duly received as an assemblage of aerial photographs pieced together. There were many long days, as when the rest of the team had gone home, Stefane could be found hard at work until the wee hours of the morning.
Soon the viewed images filled his mind and began bouncing from every corner surrounding his brain as though they emanated from a thousand sources scattered around the room.
One late evening, while alone and totally immersed in his studies, Stefane had the eeriest sensation that he was being watched by many eyes and he could feel the vibrations of the unseen thus causing the hair on his arms to stand on end. He felt the eyes of an invisible world peeling back his skin to observe the underlying musculature before probing deeper into his bones and their very marrow. There was a sense of penetration all over his body. Something was invading his bodyspace in and out!
Suddenly, Stefane was assaulted by violent itching, causing him to remove all his clothes in a frenzy and to scratch until his body was left dripping from rivulets of blood. He then started raking his fingernails through the hair on his head trying to reach his scalp, as well as the hair in his groin area and he began to pull his hair out in handfuls. He then rammed his fingers up his nose and then his ears - wherever there were hair cavities...but with no relief to be had.
Stefane now hoped that he would drown in the depths of insanity soon. He now understood. The roles had been reversed and he was the viewed matter under the microscope...and used accordingly. Stefane could visualize all the surrealistic images tumbling about in his head and imagined his brain imploding. And he began to scream...as he battled the unknown battlefield in the invisible world of inner space.
The autopsy report recorded half an inch long tunnel-type swellings under Stefanes' skin over his entire body. They were all filled with eggs at one end and six-legged larvae at the other. The surface of his body was also covered with excrescence of insects. Stefanes' body had been truly invaded and fertilized.
Removing and studying some of the eggs enclosed in the thin tunnels, the credence was that a small Japanese mite, known as Japanese Tsutsugamush, had attached itself to Stefanes' body before he left Japan. Therefore, it was believed that Stefane died of Japanese River Fever - also known as Scrub Typhus.
Meanwhile, oblivious to human eyes, the ambient mites in the airspace behind the door continued their 'Danse Macabre'...until next time.
"Danse Macabre"
by Ruby Rose
"Where the telescope ends,
the microscope begins.
Which of the two has the grander view?"
-Les Miserables by Victor Hugo
by Ruby Rose
"Where the telescope ends,
the microscope begins.
Which of the two has the grander view?"
-Les Miserables by Victor Hugo
Stefane's vocal anguish in the airspace resounded like an accompaniment to Rodin's 'Gates of Hell'. The echo of his screams wounded and disconcerted all other senses as it travelled from one security camera to the other...captured forever...then the exquisite silence of the absence of breath in a human body was heard...soundless and tranquil.
In 1980, Stefane, a French scientist arrived at the University of Colorado in Boulder and found himself standing in front of a door with the Japanese words "Denshi Yama" meaning "Mount Electron" written on a sign. Stefane was a slight man but personable in appearance with an ebullient glint to his striking cobalt blue eyes. He was thirty-five years of age and had just returned from Japan from a self-imposed two year sabbatical of learning new disciplines in the study of the invisible world of inner space. As many before him, Stefane had now become a wonder-struck voyager in the minuscule world of micro-organisms and now considered himself well versed with the worlds within worlds, other existences...be it as small as mites that are to be found all over the world. Stefane was eager to continue his studies with the excellent team of scientists utilizing one of the world's largest electron microscopes that uses a million-volt beam of electrons versus beams of light or lenses with the ability of magnifying twenty million times. It was now even possible to examine live insects and to release them.
Every day was an adventure as Stefane viewed the surrealist appearance of the minuscule world, finding the revealed images of three-dimensionality that were produced truly remarkable to the human eye. Exhilarated and totally absorbed in his work at the University, Stefane perpetually transmitted images from the inner space to his brain which were duly received as an assemblage of aerial photographs pieced together. There were many long days, as when the rest of the team had gone home, Stefane could be found hard at work until the wee hours of the morning.
Soon the viewed images filled his mind and began bouncing from every corner surrounding his brain as though they emanated from a thousand sources scattered around the room.
One late evening, while alone and totally immersed in his studies, Stefane had the eeriest sensation that he was being watched by many eyes and he could feel the vibrations of the unseen thus causing the hair on his arms to stand on end. He felt the eyes of an invisible world peeling back his skin to observe the underlying musculature before probing deeper into his bones and their very marrow. There was a sense of penetration all over his body. Something was invading his bodyspace in and out!
Suddenly, Stefane was assaulted by violent itching, causing him to remove all his clothes in a frenzy and to scratch until his body was left dripping from rivulets of blood. He then started raking his fingernails through the hair on his head trying to reach his scalp, as well as the hair in his groin area and he began to pull his hair out in handfuls. He then rammed his fingers up his nose and then his ears - wherever there were hair cavities...but with no relief to be had.
Stefane now hoped that he would drown in the depths of insanity soon. He now understood. The roles had been reversed and he was the viewed matter under the microscope...and used accordingly. Stefane could visualize all the surrealistic images tumbling about in his head and imagined his brain imploding. And he began to scream...as he battled the unknown battlefield in the invisible world of inner space.
The autopsy report recorded half an inch long tunnel-type swellings under Stefanes' skin over his entire body. They were all filled with eggs at one end and six-legged larvae at the other. The surface of his body was also covered with excrescence of insects. Stefanes' body had been truly invaded and fertilized.
Removing and studying some of the eggs enclosed in the thin tunnels, the credence was that a small Japanese mite, known as Japanese Tsutsugamush, had attached itself to Stefanes' body before he left Japan. Therefore, it was believed that Stefane died of Japanese River Fever - also known as Scrub Typhus.
Meanwhile, oblivious to human eyes, the ambient mites in the airspace behind the door continued their 'Danse Macabre'...until next time.
