Inktober 2022
Oct. 10: Crabby

I opened my eyes in a pitch black space, with no visible boundaries in any direction. I was sitting at an office desk as I typed away on an old computer, the dull keyboard clicking echoing faintly. A single lightbulb hung by a thread infinitely long coming from a spot directly above my head. The halo of light flickering occasionally, the screen of my computer doing the same. I kept on typing away, writing nonsensical words, phrases and symbols that I couldn’t read or understand. Everything was eerily calm, including myself, just neutral and impersonal.

Suddenly, another lightbulb clicked on from my right, revealing a male figure dressed in office wear; a white shirt with a blue tie tucked into a pair of cheap-looking navy suit pants. I couldn’t see the man’s eyes, but I could see a smile. As he approached towards me, the hanging light followed him from above perfectly like a spotlight on a stage.

« Still here? » He asked casually.

« Yeah. » I replied coldly, still typing.

« You know, » the man continued, now standing beside my desk as he leaned against the taller railing of my cubicle. « You don’t have to do all this. You could just let someone else make the changes. »

My hands finally stopped for a moment as I threw him a glance. « No. » I said dismissively, before getting back to typing.

The man’s eyebrows furrowed and he scratched at his temple, perhaps out of annoyance. « Geez, » he sighed. « I don’t know anyone as persistent as you. »

I looked at him and said again in a brisk tone. « I don’t trust anyone else to do it. »

The man suddenly stopped scratching at his head and stared at me. « Don’t be so crabby, » he retorted before adding in a hushed whisper. « That’s why you look like that. »

That comment threw me off as I turned to look at him again. « Like what? »

He looked back at me flatly. « See for yourself. »

When I turned back at my computer, what greeted me instead was a huge round mirror, reflecting a strange looking thing.

It was a creature with a human body from the neck down, but its head was the body of a large crab, looking red and angry. I stared in horror as I brought a hand up to touch my face, realizing that it was indeed me. When I tried to yell, I realized with panic that I could no longer make any sounds apart from an underwhelming bubbling noise as the crab in the mirror spat out bubbles. Breathing became nearly impossible as well as I felt myself trying to breathe through the bubbles, crab eyes flailing around wildly as I helplessly stared at my reflection.

From beside me, the man’s voice rang out again. « Crabby. »

I jolted awake at my desk, chest heaving and a chill running along the back of my neck. My hands flew up to my face, replaceing my human head to my relief, and a small trail of drool running along the corner of my mouth. I looked up at my dimly lit computer screen, a lengthy report still open. I sighed heavily, emptying my lungs and calming down, before closing it shut.