Once upon a time there was a thumb and a mouth that were born on the same day, on the same hour. They were named Little Mouth and Little Thumb. The moment Little Mouth cried his first cry, Little Thumb was drawn to him and they were one. From the moment they were born, Little Thumb and Little Mouth were inseparable and grew to know each other well.
As they grew up, Little Thumb and Little Mouth came to know that their life in the hut was simple. Every day, when Little Mouth was quiet, Little Thumb saw that there were bigger Thumbs and Mouths like him and Little Mouth and they did a lot of things. Big Burly Thumbs chopped wood and lifted heavy things. Meanwhile, Big Mouths, in swinging colourful dresses, were always busy with cooking, washing and sweeping up the hut. Little Thumb could see Big Thumbs and Big Mouths work well together but somehow, this made him a bit sad for Big thumbs and Big Mouths, though friends, were not inseparable like him and Little Mouth.
It was a day like any other but Little Thumb was particularly nervous. The heat was oppressing inside the hut where they live. The walls of the hut, which were made of dried straw, did nothing to relieve the heat and there was no wind to help chase the warmth away. Little Thumb thought the heat made the flies extra frenzy. Normally, he did not mind the flies at all. In fact, its hypnotic song and dance were a soothing lullaby to him and Little Mouth.
But not today.
Little Thumb anxiously watched the flies zoom in circles around Big Burly Thumb and Big Mouth who never got up from the night before. They were both lying very still in the corner of the hut. Big Mouth’s colourful dress looked dull and flat. He missed the sashay of her dress.
The sun had once again shifted its position from the sky and there was no movement inside Little Thumb’s hut and he grew more worried. Not only did Big Thumb and Big Mouth failed to get up from their beds but his friend Little Mouth, had started to groan as if in pain. To make matters worse, the flies were coming inside the hut in an alarming rate. One by one, they came in from the window and through the door as if called by an invisible force. Little Thumb was almost sure it was from the funny sweet smell that emanated from the now not-so-nice Big Thumb and Big Mouth, which lured the flies to come in and investigate. They dance in tight circles, disturbing Big Mouth’s colourful dress and made it look like her dress had a life of its own. Mesmerized, Little Thumb and Little Mouth hardly dared to move.
Sing, land, fly, dance.
Sing, land, fly, dance.
It went on and on forever.
Upset by the ghastly scene before them, Little Mouth moaned and Little Thumb went to console him and he knew no more.
Day lengthened into afternoon and Little Thumb felt very much alone. His friend seemed to grow weaker as the heat pressed down on the hut. He tried to cajole Little Mouth with a bit of water from the bowl but his friend turned away. Little Thumb fretted and worried.
Unrelenting heat. The hut stank more of the sickly sweet smell and the flies doubled in numbers. Some flew to Little Thumb which he feebly swatted away. Outside the hut, he saw Big Thumbs and Big Mouths walking around listlessly as if they were asleep. Little Mouth gave a piteous cry when they saw thick red fluid come out of one of the Big Mouths outside the hut. One by one, as if struck by an unseen hand, they all slowly crumpled to the ground and everything grew completely still.
Except for the punishing heat. Except for the flies that came in droves – that danced in tight circles. That sang a hypnotic deadly song.
Sing, land, fly, dance.
Sing, land, fly, dance.
Merry flies, still Mouths and Thumbs.
Merry, still. Merry. Still.
At last, twilight came and the hut began to cool down. To Little Thumb’s relief, the flies, as if tired of its merry dance, started to leave one by one. The sickly sweet smell, though still present, had softened as the heat bade its farewell. Maybe now, Little Thumb thought, Big Thumbs and Big Mouths would get up and everything would be the same again.
Twilight deepened into night and the moon rose and shone through slats of straws. Little Thumb could see the eerie silhouettes of Big Thumbs and Big Mouths outside the hut lying still, their skin covered with oozing sores strangely luminescent under the light of the moon. The sweet sickly smell that was fanned by the heat had now changed to a pointed cloying smell that attracted nocturnal animals from the desert. Little Thumb heard them prowling outside the hut, their hunger fueled by the cloying smell.
The night was restless, punctuated by growling and terrible crunching noises. Little Mouth piteously moaned no matter how much Little Thumb consoled him. Weak with hunger and thirst, they fell asleep on the cold, dirty floor of the hut.
The moon rose to its highest peak and was soon eclipsed by the sun and when Little Thumb woke, the day was hazier, blurrier, like looking through a glass filled with water. Where they lay, Little Mouth made terrifying noiseless sounds like the mouse Little Thumb once saw drowning in a bucket of water.
Like the day before, the heat came. And the flies. They came, they sang, they danced.
Sing, land, fly, dance.
Sing, land, fly, dance.
Merry, still. Merry. Still.
Little Thumb, frightened and weak from hunger, watched it all as if in a dream.
A dream that took on a new quality when out of nowhere, Big Thumbs and Big Mouths came inside the hut. But they were no ordinary Big Thumbs and Big Mouths. They were covered with white rubbery material and Little Thumb could see these Big Mouths were hiding behind some clear wall that he could not put a name to.
They were white apparitions.
Many of them hovered over the lifeless Big Mouths and Big Thumbs, disturbing the merrily dancing flies. They were mouthing strange words that Little Thumb could not fathom.
“Doctor Lishart, we are now running initial tests, it appears to be a new strain of Ebola virus. We need to inform CDC…”
“Entire village, wiped out…”
Wiped out. Wiped out.
And the flies continued to sing, land, fly, dance.
Sing, land, fly, dance.
Merry, still. Merry. Still.
Wiped out. Wiped out.
Little Thumb sought Little Mouth only to find him unmoving and a shock of thick red fluid poured forth from his beloved friend. A light feeling swiftly came over him as
Little Mouth cried out in anguish. In a blurry haze, Little Thumb saw the white apparitions turn to him and Little Mouth and they were swiftly lifted way.
He knew no more.
Image credits: Job Ruzgal