The humming of the engines had dulled
and the birds had sang their last note
Finally alone, she had found herself
cross-legged on the small shag rug
in the middle of the hard wood floor.
Setting the timer to 10 minutes,
she slid the phone out of reach.
Taking a deep breath in,
she let her eyes sink shut
with the exhale.
Keeping her focus on the air
flowing in
and out,
relaxing her body more with each breath.
Her ears caught a slight buzz
and she sensed she wasn’t alone.
Without letting her mind wander,
she honed in to the murmur
and listened as the sound
appeared to grow louder and louder.
A dozen mosquitoes
waiting in the woodwork
while she focused
on the in
and the out
of the air flow.
Approaching only when they sensed
the being had reached
a sense of zen.
She was there,
and they were here –
buzzing around their prey
like a vulture ready to devour
a decaying carcass.
But she was far from dead.
In her meditation,
she could feel
the infinitesimal shift in air
from the minuscule beings
rapidly moving their tiny wings,
encircling her still body.
She could sense their slowly
closing distance
from her goose-bump arms
and hair-raised neck.
She could feel
each of their six little legs
making contact with her skin.
She could feel the sharp prick
as the proboscis punctured her
like a needle into the arm
but she didn’t clench her muscle
or swat the nuisance away.
Every second felt as though
it last a minute
feeling the blood
slowly leave her body
through the microscopic hole
in her skin.
She could almost see
the little being growing
ever so slightly
as the blood filled the vessel.
And just as the crime
had been committed
the alarm sounded
and they fled
leaving the body a bloody mess
awoken from her trance
she set her eyes on the scene
and assessed the damage.
Just Me, Jasmine Lee 