Wednesday, January 10, 2007

Entry #48

The Nature of Decay
by Daniel Hatadi


Mould is a decomposer of wood, plants, and animals. Its spores are found wherever there is dead matter. A pile of leaves, manure, compost. A carcass or a body, lying in the rubble alongside the wall of an old building.

The spores move easily through the air, feeding on moisture and warmth, crawling up the wall next to the body. Inside the wall, copper pipes rusted with age provide the flaking paint with water. A speckled pattern appears on the surface, random and chaotic in its beauty.

In the alley next to the wall I wait.

I wait among the garbage and the flies, the smells of long-soiled foods. I wait for those that make the alley their home, surrounding themselves with fortresses of cardboard boxes. As if this would offer them protection.

I wait for one whose hair is matted and grey, face riddled with liver spots, whose life is not far from its end.

I wait until he sleeps.

The spores flee my body like wasps from a nest. They fly towards the old one and seep into his tattered clothes until his decaying skin is covered completely. He will wake and he will scream, but who would care for him in the dead of night, in this sewer of an alley?

No one to help him, but he helps me. He sustains me.

Mould is a decomposer. As am I.


[Sydney crime fiction writer Daniel Hatadi has been a musician, a petrol station attendant, and a software engineer in the poker machine industry. All great fuel for writing about crime, if not committing it. His writing has appeared in Crimespree Magazine, Shots UK and Thrilling Detective.]

19 comments:

Joni said...

Seedy and gritty. You've really captured an aura here. I like this very much.

Anonymous said...

I feel like I am covered now! Nice.

anne frasier said...

ooh, very nice, daniel!

Anonymous said...

Really interesting take, Daniel. Original.

Anonymous said...

Oh, I liked that. Great voice and cleverly handled. Well done.

Dafath said...

nice association

Anonymous said...

I'll never think of mould the same way again! Nice job.

Jeff said...

Nice and creepy. Good job!

Anonymous said...

eeeeeuuugghhhh! LOVE it! like something put of x-files!

Anonymous said...

Excellent, I love it.

Anonymous said...

Nice composition, so to speak. You set a nice mood.

Christian said...

Very creepy. Starts out as a science lesson, but still with a real sense of narrative dread.

Anonymous said...

Well written. A great story that conjures up very clear pictures.

Anonymous said...

Thanks very much for the compliments everyone.

I used to rent an apartment in the inner city that had a leaking pipe between the walls. Both the body corporate and the real estate agent didn't seem to care about fixing the problem.

So when mould started appearing on my bedroom and kitchen walls, I got the hell out of there.

You could say this inspired my story. :)

Anonymous said...

Nice original POV

Scott said...

Hi Daniel,

I like your voice the most, which smacks of pulp and hardboiled detective. This has an entirely unique feel to it.

s.w. vaughn said...

Oooh, creepy! I love a good horror story. Great work!

Anonymous said...

Delightfully creepy!

Anonymous said...

Great visuals here. I like when the narrative is akin to a camera panning with the action. You did that very well.

High marks overall.