crab

I was a fighter, a traveller, sort of migrant, not quite fugitive. In a field of stubble a righteous assault. The back of my hand injured and infected. A parasite growing there. I sought help in a hospital and a small crablike creature, folded on itself, dormant, was removed.

I watched as the creature unfolded and melted away leaving what looked like armoured plates or leaves of a coppery metal. Prodded with a pencil the articulated plates barely hinted at the vanished creature. Having to move on, there wasn't the time to understand or dwell on who made the creature or where it came from.

A fire alarm, evacuating through corridors. A car park, outdoor air, huge concrete pillars and suspended roads. A child grazed by a vehicle in the car park, the irony of an injury provoked by an evacuation drill, at a hospital.