Viral
03.21.13
Annie, Kev and Clive were sitting around the kitchen table having breakfast when Tom walked in, looking tired.
“I didn’t expect to see you up this early,” said Annie. “Aren’t you on late shift this week?”
“I am. It’s just…I…”
“Oh my God. You had it too, didn’t you?”
“Yes.”
“So on Monday Clive had it, Tuesday I did, Kev on Wednesday, and now you. Seriously guys, are you not as freaked out as I am by this? I mean – all four of us had the exact same horrible dream, one night after the other. Surely this is beyond coincidence.”
“I don’t know,” said Clive. “I did describe it to you in detail on Tuesday morning, maybe it lodged itself in your subconscious and this caused you to re-dream it, or something.”
“I see where you’re coming from, but… all four of us? I’m almost more creeped out by this than I was by the dream itself. Almost.”
“It was pretty terrifying, I must admit,” said Kev. “I know I was grumbling the other day that I hadn’t had a good nightmare in a while, but that was a bit much.”
“That disgusting rash that turned into that flesh eating disease…”
“The piles of bodies being set on fire…”
“The carnage, the screaming…”
“The total devastation, at the end.”
Kev’s mobile phone beeped, then beeped again. He picked it up and read his new messages.
“Shit,” he said, turning to look at Annie. “I think I’m joining your freaked out camp, Annie. That was Nick and Stu. I was out with them last night and they’ve both texted me to blame my round of tequila slammers for the horrible dream they had.”
“You know what,” said Tom. “Come to think of it, I overheard a couple of guys at work moaning yesterday about having had a terrible nightmare.”
“My God,” said Annie. “It’s gone viral. This is just too freaky.”
“Er, guys…?” said Clive. They all turned round to look at him.
“What’s up? You’ve gone white as a sheet.”
Clive stood up and lifted his shirt, exposing his torso. Annie screamed.
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Tags: Dreams, Flash Fiction, fridayflash, Horror, virus, Writing
Did all the dreams feature a pedophile with a clawed glove and Christmas sweater? Because it seems like some dangerously familiar handiwork!
Great idea. I liked how you offered the rational explanation – ‘it lodged itself in your subconscious’. It kept me wondering, but about the significance of the title, and then came the perfect payoff. Well done.
Very well done. First, the dream; then, the symptoms. Eek!
Now I’m afraid to go to sleep 🙂 Great atmosphere in this Maria!
I love the super creepy content relayed in the form of morning banter between roommates. Like it’s trying to lull you into a false assumption before lowering the blade. Really good work!
“What is the most resilient parasite? A bacteria? A virus? An intenstinal worm? An idea. Resilient, highly contagious. Once an idea has taken hold of the brain it’s almost impossible to iradicate.”
Nice job!
Niiiiiiiiicely done. Makes me glad I didn’t relate the dream I had last week about [REDACTED, just in case]. 😛
Loved this!
I took it that the dream was the virus replicating, the symptoms just when it bursts out in symptoms in the hosts’ body!
marc nash
I don’t think I should have read this right before bed… *stays wide awake*
This needs to be made into a film, right now. Not like Elm Street, ‘cos it’s been done of course, but more one that focuses on the psychology rather than the gross-out factor, like this one did.
This was an awful lot of story crammed into so few words — all the right details are included, and then it’s done.
But really. Film.
Virus spread so easily! Nice story I liked the idea of one telling the nightmare causing it to spread to another and another etc. Scary!