The Clock's Ticking

Under the brown bean bag, there in an unnaturally large gathering of tiny red ticks. One of them stand on top of a grain of sand and addresses the crowd.

"Chicku (Kalyani's beautiful amazing Labrador) has been home to us for generations. Until that wretched day a week ago when the humans forced us to evacuate; polluting our pristine ecosystem with chemicals so lethal that the eggs wouldn't hatch, the elders went crazy and even breathing became impossible. With no alternatives, we left Chicku. Leaving everything behind! Our homes, our food source, our livelihoods, and some cases even our children ...we had to, because no matter how much regret, sorrow or guilt we bear in our hearts, we must survive. 

But the ravenous humans, the despicable, deplorable, dreadful, decietful creatures that they are, won't ever stop. In the worst of times, when millions of bugs are trying to adapt to a new and hostile environment, do they stop? Oh no. They kill. Merciless. Too many innocent ticks have died!

Yes, the humans are huge. And yes they have metalled shoes and pesticides. And we will all die... 

Yes, we will all die. But our story will not be mentioned in their easy wins. Oh no, we will die but we will give them hell before we do. We shall fight! Fight with all our numbers, all our strength! WE WILL FIGHT!"

On cue, Kalyani walks into the room. She's thinking about something and doesn't notice the ticks. She turns on her laptop and folds herself onto her regular spot on the floor. Her brain has already given most of the grey matter a break as she gets sucked into the world of Facebook where she will do god-only-knows-what-ish things for the next few hours. Little does Kalyani know that those would be last hours.

Within minutes, the entire tick population is ready. they split into groups. Two lines advance along the edges of the red wall - perfectly camouflaged, the bravest group moves over the lines of the tiles on the floor, the fastest ticks scuttle around the entire room to attack from the far side. 

Kalyani doesn't know whats hit her. One second she's going through her notifications, and the next she's got a live coat of ticks engulfing every inch of her. She feels them plunge their tiny fangs in at a thousand places simultaneously. At the same time she can also feel their feathery movement all over her skin. She's terrified beyond the limit she thought was humanly possible. Her mind, in full panic mode, shows her jumping wildly and thrashing her limbs to get the bugs off, but before her body can pull itself up the ticks make their ways into her brain. They find their entry points in her eyes, nose and ears, and steadily bite through everything they see until they reach her brain. Once there, they work on severing every nerve connection they found. Before long, Kalyani goes limp. Her pupils dilate, her muscles give way and she collapses in on herself like a bedsheet that was suddenly bed-less. There is no peace in death. Not in hers, not in any of the tick's she'd killed.

The ticks celebrate their victory and wait for the other humans to come and wipe them out.