User blog comment:SOMEGUY123/300 Word Long Stories/@comment-5952769-20150201091518

Nightmare 2 (200 words)

Images came to me, and I understood they were real.

I saw twins born, identical except that one lacked a head. The healthy one, Clémence, went home with her parents. The other stayed in the hospital. Someone named her "Pikaia." It would only trouble her family to know she survived.

I saw Pikaia as a preadolescent. It was unnerving to watch her headless body sit up in bed.

Everything above her lower jaw was missing. There was a hole for her throat, a lower lip, teeth, and a tongue. Her skin wrapped around, leaving no open wound. She had enough of a nervous system to think, and her mind developed in unusual ways. She could see through others' eyes and speak through their mouths. It gave her a certain power over people.

I saw the day she spoke her plan. The hospital staff was ready to oblige.

One bright Christmas morning, Clémence and her family were gathered together in the parlor by the tree. Armed men burst in the door and dragged her away kicking and screaming.

Pikaia didn't have a pair of lips, but I knew she was smiling on the inside when she and Clémence were prepped for surgery. Soon she would be whole.