The Spot

This story is a little gory. Best to avoid eating and reading. :-) 


Tom stared in the mirror, he couldn’t believe the mess that was on his chest. What had started off as a harmless spot had turned almost overnight into a bloody, pusy, volcano on the verge of a devastating explosion. Right between his nipples, the angry, red monstrosity stared at him like a weird one-eyed beast. He stared back at it, unsure of what to do, the antiseptic cream had had little discernable effect, his only options now were to leave it and let it run its course or squeeze it and see what happened. His brain said leave it well alone, don’t open up that can of worms but his fingers were already forming a pincer movement.

The volcano was bubbling and seething like a cauldron over a roaring fire. The blood and puss swirled around inside. One touch from Tom was all it took for a fountain of bile to explode from his chest. The gunge it emitted reminded him of the mustard and ketchup combination he’d put on his burger last night.

‘Well, I guess I’d better get in the shower then,’ said Tom to no one in particular.

As he stood under the stream of water blood still snaked down his chest like molten lava; bubbling, hissing and foaming.

Tom dried, dressed and was just about to depart when he noticed a stain on his t-shirt just between his nipples. His personal volcano was still erupting. He nipped out the back and grabbed a t-shirt from the line and then waited to see if he had stemmed the flow this time. Finally he redressed and left the flat hoping the fragile peace would hold.

Tom tried to put the spot out of his mind. His mates were home from uni and he was determined to have a good night. It was one of those warm spring evenings that brings everybody out, including Sue the love of his life. She was his butterfly, she was perfect. Tom knew she was perfect because he had studied her in minute detail for over 2 years. There was only one thing about Sue that was not perfect and that was her boyfriend Ian. Tom hadn’t needed a dictionary to find out the meaning of unrequited and if he had looked it up it would have said ‘Tom’s feeling for Sue.’

But tonight there was something different in the air. Sue came over and sat next to Tom in a space that wasn’t really there.  It was certainly cosy. Her body language had changed too, she’d always  been friendly, and despite having a boyfriend just a little flirtatious but tonight was super flirt, she was turning it on big style.

After about an hour of flirting, Tom went to buy a round and Sue joined him at the bar. She slipped an arm around him and whispered in his ear. ‘Ian and I have just split up,’

‘Oh I’m sorry’ said Tom, lying through his teeth.

‘Don’t be, he’s a prat and I reckon he’ll come crawling back tomorrow.’

Such high hopes, so short lived.

‘But for now,’ she paused ‘I’m a single woman, so do ya wanna come back to mine. One night only.’

Tom leaned back and looked at her. Was she being serious? She smiled and put her little finger in the corner of her mouth. This was his dream, his fantasy, his moment. He was just about to say yes when he remembered… the spot.

What should he do? The pause had gone on too long now, he should have said yes immediately. The look on Sue’s face had gone from seductive to confused. But if she was confused it was nothing to how he was feeling. If she wanted him now, she’d change her mind when she saw the remnants of Krakatoa on his chest. But this wasn’t any old girl, this was Sue. In the end he took a deep breath and said …


Yes or No? 
Tell me what you think in the comments below

Acknowledgements 

A little nod to Billy Bragg in there - The Saturday Boy 

And thank you to Laura for helping me with one aspect of the grammar.