Author: R. J. Erbacher

The wispy antennae that lined the perimeter of my mass sensed a fluctuation. I do not have traditional vision, but I can pick up changes in molecular atmospheric disruption allowing me to judge shape and movement most accurately, and what was approaching me was bipedal. My determination of the acceleration was that it was moving too fast. I would not be able to react quickly enough to capture it. I would have to rely on my modified lure to slow its pace. It stepped onto my surface, and I understood that it had some type of unnatural hoof because I could not detect sentient composition. It moved steadily over me, did not pause at my lure, and passed beyond me. The configuration of my mass was a thin layer that simulated the appearance of terrain cover so treading on me was a natural act, in my case necessary for nutrition. As I watched its retreat, it stopped by the water’s edge not far away.

It began to shed its skin. The hooves were shucked off. Then it peeled its upper layer, then the lower. It used its upraised appendages to assist. Then it removed an additional smaller layer of skin from its top and the bottom. It bent over and tested the water with a limb, and I could perceive from that vulnerable position that it had two mammary glands hanging down, so it was a female of the species.

She proceeded to move into the water and using her appendages splashed the moisture over her body. A dangerous engagement, such as that water contained many carnivorous organisms that could confront her at a given moment.

Having successfully completed her task without being attacked she departed the water, collected her shed skin and came back in my direction. Stepping back onto my surface again, my trichomes could now feel her new skin. It was wonderfully soft and pliable. Not an exoskeleton as were many of the other organisms or furry like the quadrupedal indigenous creatures. She dropped her shed skin and hooves onto my surface, and my sensors identified that it was all of inert construction, not molt, probably some sort of inanimate protective covering. Then she went towards my lure.

In the center of my mass was a protrusion which mimicked local flowering foliage. She brought her head close to it, probably using her olfactory senses to inhale its aroma. In doing so she ingested some of my shed airborne particles that I released to induce lethargy.

Moving into a prone arrangement she rested fully upon my mass. My trichomes were ecstatic as they determined her position against my surface while at the same time marveling at the contours of her curved form and delicate skin. She stretched out her limbs then rolled over. In this position I established a haptic awareness of her mammary glands as well as what I suspected was a reproductive orifice, and as her head lay down, I noted the apertures on her face for respiratory, auditory, vision, and nutritional intake. Monitoring her pulse rate and breathing I was able to conclude that she was now in a semi-sedative state. I began the ensnarement design.

The folds of my mass began a slow enclosure around her form, with the touch to her epidermis being so slight that she would not notice. The trichome’s pads would effectively adhere to all her surfaces. Once my pleats overlapped completely encompassing her torso, they secreted a separate chemical that bound my edges into an inseparable cocoon. The last part of the procedure was the containment of her head allowing normal breathing until my prey was hopelessly enveloped. That’s when she became aware, and the screaming started. She could not move her limbs as I had immobilized them. She tried thrashing her head but even that soon became affixed in place. The screaming did not stop until her air passage was sealed off allowing only a minimal amount of inhalation. Now the slow dissolvement and digestion of her anatomy could begin. A meal of this size would take some time but my trichomes were tingling with the anticipation of the consumption of her delectable form.