Johannes Punkt’s Flaskpost

The patient looked at once eighty years old and eighty minutes. Covered in red slime, eyes sunk so far into her skull that she could not see, and a lack of hair. She breathed in short bursts and then held her breath. When she opened her mouth and accidentally swallowed the water, it was obvious she had no teeth. Little fingers grew from the stumps that were her shoulders.

Keys rattled. Woolen socks, plain white shoes stepped in. A man in a labcoat picked the patient up and rattled her until she coughed up the water.

The man walked away.