An Arm And A Leg
Be-be-be-beep. Be-be-be-beep. Be-be-be-beep.
I was awoken from my slumber by the incessant brain-drilling sound of my alarm clock. I had selected it for its ability to annoy me - anything less and I wouldn't be properly awoken. It had successfully made me blearily awake.
Be-be-be-beep. Be-be-be-beep.
I rolled over, reaching for the clock to shut it up, my eyes still stuck closed against the unwanted daylight.
Be-be-be-beep.
The swipe of my arm missed the clock, somehow. Missed the table on which the clock lay. I figured I must be far enough across the bed, or I would have hit the edge of the bed, which was also missed.
Be-be-be-beep.
I swiped again, fruitlessly, before I remembered, as I always remembered at this point, that that hand had been amputated long since. A minor accident, shutting it in a door, but it had become horribly infected and had to be removed to save my life. I remembered the greenish goo that had filled it, and shuddered, as I turned back over to reach for the clock with my other hand.
Be-be-be-beep.
And, as always, I remembered I lacked that hand too. That one I'd lost to a more freakish accident; a shattering bandsaw's flying blade had shot straight through, cut between the bones, through the tendons. I remembered the sound of the hand hitting the floor, the moment of incomprehension. The others had started panicking before I had even realised it was mine.
Be-be-be-beep.
I tried to catch the clock switch with my wrist-stump, but alas, even that was lost to me. The hasty bandaging of my workmates had, at first, involved a foul oily rag, and again infection had set in. That arm was gone to the shoulder.
Be-be-be-beep. Be-be-be-beep.
I opened my eyes, squinting at first against the daylight. But it was dark.
Be-be-be-beep.
I was blind.
Be-be-be-beep.
I had no eyes.
Be-be-be-beep. Be-be-be-beep.
I couldn't even remember the last time I had had eyes. Couldn't remember what had happened to them. I remembered, though, that my legs had gone missing one night, while I was asleep. At least, I think that's what had happened. Just gone.
Be-be-be-beep. Be-be-be-beep. Be-be-be-beep.
I must have still had ears, though, or I wouldn't have heard the alarm.
And with that, it stopped.