Our Flesh was Eroding

Welcome to episode 45 of Flash Fiction Friday with AB Frank.

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The writing prompt for this week:

• Object: Equipment

• Action: Negligent

• Genre: Weird

Object Word Association: Tools, machines, machinery, repair, build, factory, mills.

Action Word Association: Ignore, unprofessional, cause & effect, no attention, cut corners, responsibility.

Enjoy!

Our Flesh was Eroding

The clank of tools echoed throughout the factory. Men barked banter and instructions to one another over the noisy lark of repairing machinery. I was the supervisor tasked with identifying if the machines malfunctioned or if the manufacturer was negligent.

It was the eve of the 6th day since the accident. My team worked long hours and incurred several injuries during the process of dismantling the equipment.

We’d taken an unprecedented step in the industrial revolution - to wear what protective clothing we could. Leather gloves, long sleeves and neckerchiefs pulled over our faces had been a necessary expense. We’d discovered that whatever had caused the significant wear on the machinery was harmful to our skin. We had three men hospitalised with nasty open sores where their skin was in contact with the machinery.

We’d seen erosion on many of the nuts and bolts which was causing all the machines to malfunction, and in the worst instance, collapse on someone. 

‘It’s way worse under here boss!’ one of the workers shouted.

I crossed the factory floor to take a look. A side panel had been partially lifted and the level of erosion was unlike anything I’d seen before.

A steady stream of tiny mites rose out of the gap. The worker that called me over was closest. The effect on his skin was devastating. He screamed and writhed around the floor.

The mites clumped together in a massive ball, always rotating. Their colour was that of oil spilt in a puddle. All of us stared at this mesmeric display, blissfully unaware our flesh was eroding, feeding them.

THE END