My entry for the subspecies contest
I really liked some of the other entries, so I wanted to throw my hat in the ring!
“Uh, sir, you should come look at this.”
Doctor Mahoney scoffed softly, not looking up from his paperwork. “I’m sure whatever it is, you can handle it.”
“Well… thats the thing, sir.” His intern said, looking back into his microscope. “I’m… I’m not sure what it us.”
“It’s fleas. I’m not sure why you wanted to take a sample so badly.”
“They were purple! Just like-”
“Oh please!” He lifted his head only to lock eyes with the young man, a heavy scowl on his brow. “They’re eating something on the fluffy, or someone got dye on them. Who cares? We treat them, we get paid, we all go home!”
“Sir, if you would just-”
“What?!” He stood from his desk, stomping across the room. “Take a look at a perfectly normal parasite? Assure to you that what you’re seeing are, in fact, fleas?? Are they, perchance, doing tricks? Spelling out rude words??”
He shoved the intern aside, and leaned to peer into the microscope.
On the slide were small, purple blobs. He tuned in the lenses to confirm that they were fleas, and froze.
On the slide were many purplish creatures, but rather than the insect-like forms he expected, they looked almost like… fluffies. If fluffies had 6 legs and two shiny black eyes on their heads. They waddled around on the sheet of glass and when they ran into another, they would wrap their legs around each other… almost like a hug… before wandering off.
The doctor stepped back from the microscope, hands shaking.
“Do… do you see it?” His intern asked.
He swallowed heavily. “I do…”
“What do we-”
The doctor darted to his desk, clearing the paperwork from it in a single motion. “Take as many pictures as you can! Videos! Preserve everything! I will call the owner of the fluffy, then the university!!” Mahoney looked up to his intern with a grin. “And decide how you want to be referred to in the research paper.”
I’m calling them Fluffleas, something like the smallest possible micro. Slightly larger than a flea, they adapt their coloration to their host by eating the outer keratin of the strands of fluff. Six legs, no mane but a short tail. They cause itching, alergic-like reactions, and in severe cases bald patches and open sores.
They cannot talk, but communicate with their fellow fluffleas by making high pitched squeaks, far out of the range of human hearing. They are not territorial, however will only interact with fluffleas the same color of themself.
They are immune to most flea treatments and insecticides but can be killed easily by water. They are able to live temporarily in any soft surface so when dealing with an infestation it is advised to wash all bedding and spray water over any carpets in the household.
Now with Art by carnivorousduck!
