Once upon a time, there was a kid named Daniel.
For the first 10 years of his life, Daniel was normal. Lived a normal life in the suburbs. Went to school, did his homework, played baseball.
But, one day, he woke-up and found bugs crawling all over him. Daniel was shocked by this and tried to swipe away the bugs, but they kept gathering on his body. Their tiny legs crawling about, irritating his skin.
His parents were dismayed. His community disapproved. His family tried applying various pesticides and chemicals on Daniel, but the bugs kept coming back.
The bugs didn’t harm them. Even the spiders and ticks didn’t bite. They were just there. Forever.
Soon, Daniel got used to the bugs, sort-of. He itched and scratched for most of the day, but there was nothing much to do. His parents tried treating him as normal, tried to ignore the creepy-crawlies that populated his arms and face, but it was difficult. But they tried.
At school, girls screamed and ran from his presence, boys often threw rocks and water bottles at him. His friends had long since disappeared. This became normal for Daniel.
Soon, he was forced to be homeschooled. Daniel felt lonely.
Daniel tried talking to the bugs. The bugs didn’t say much.
Years passed. Daniel lived in his parents’ basement. His parents loved him, but suggested he not come up, especially if there are visitors. Daniel understood.
Sometimes, Daniel prayed for the bugs to go away. Sometimes, he cursed God.
However, the bugs started to spread. Not only did they occupy his skin, but they swarmed everything he touched, every surface in his vicinity. The bugs spread out beyond the basement. His parents did not like this.
One day, when Daniel woke-up, he realized his parents weren’t home. He called out, but no one answered. He crawled out of the basement and noticed that some sort of tarp obscured the windows. Daniel realized that the house was about to be fumigated.
48 hours later, his parents returned home and walked downstairs into the basement. They found Daniel’s body lying in bed buried beneath layer upon layer of dead bugs and insects.
Daniel’s memory lingered on as a peculiar legend, but soon “Bug Boy” faded from the town’s consciousness. No one visited his grave site except for various bugs and insects, encasing his coffin with their bodies.
A really bad story partly inspired by the Pearl Jam song, “Bugs”.