the body

				   "The Body"

	Mr. Hubris loved his body. His very life centered around it. He had a very strict schedule of training, and followed a very balanced diet. In his eyes his own image was that of perfection.

	Every morning Mr. Hubris would wake up, train, drink a protein shake and masturbate in the shower looking at his reflection. There were mirrors everywhere in his apartment so he can be able to see himself at all times. In the office he worked in, all his colleagues would compliment his body which pleased him greatly. Even the women turned their heads towards him and looked him in the eyes. Mr. Hubris did not mind, but he did not train for that.

	He wanted to perfect his body, because it was the only thing a person truly owns. He felt that God did not create a lean man when he created Adam, but a perfect one so it was his duty to try and reach that perfection for he was created in His image. This desire would elevate him closer to God even if he doesn't reach the flawlessness, he felt that his aim was divine.

	One day, when Mr. Hubris was having his morning shower and washing his hair, he felt something strange was in his hands, something like spider webs, entangling around his fingers. He washed off the shampoo from his eyes and looked down. It was hair. He panickly began to slide his hands through his head, pulling patches of wet, blond hair with every slight pull, until he could feel the naked skin of his scalp. He left the shower, without even bothering to stop the water, and hurried to the mirror. Mr. Hubris noticed that he did not only loose his hair, but also his eyebrows. In fact all of his body hair had fallen out. "What the fuck is going on?", he shouted at himself, "Am I sick or something?" There was no sickness that could explain what was hapening to Mr. Hubris.

	The skin on his face was sagging. It was like he was turning into an old man. Wrinkles appeared and under his eyes formed bags. Mr. Hubris touched his face with confusion and disbelief. "This can't be happening, this is impossible.", he said slowly walking backwards, to distance himself from the horrifying image he was seeing in the mirror. His naked back touched the cold wall and he stumbled down, now he feelt the same coldness on his buttocks.

	He sat, with his body completely relaxed, on the bathroom tiles for a few minutes. Mr. Hubris could not even comprehend what was going on. Why was he suddenly aging so rapidly? What has he done to diserve this? His way of life was healthy. Exhausting all negative thoughts he saw that the running water from the shower was almost overflowing. He decided to stop thinking, get up, turn the water off and then quickly rush to the doctor.

	He could not. Mr Hubris could not move his legs. Hysteria washed over him again. He tried to move them with his hands, he even punched them, but he couldn't move them or feel anything. Hubris now realized the emergency of his situation. He had to crawl to a telephone and call for help. He pushed himself off the wall and started to move, thrusting his torso and his useless legs forward with his hands like a soldier in a trench. When he reched the door he tried to grap the handle with all his might. Stretching up with one hand and supporting his body with the other he managed to get to the right height. Just as his fingers touched the handle his palm melted away into a pale liquid that splashed on the tiles. He screamed, not from pain which was nonexistent, but from the horror of the sight. Mr. Hubris turned himself on his back with his head leaning on the door he could not open. Now not only could he not move his legs, but also his entire body.

He twitched and groaned. Pale and hairless he looked like a shell-less snail. His body was turning into liquid. Melting down into the floor. There where no bones, no blood and no pain. Mr. Hubris gradually lost consciousness. Blackness covered his eyes like a falling curtain. He was no longer a man, but a puddle of substance that mixed with the overflowing water and drained down the duct.