Our church worships at the altar of the Unholy Trinity. Its gospels are delivered as a trio of dark drabbles, linked so that Three become One. All hail the power of the Three.

Crab

Shipwrecked, I despaired of surviving. When the giant crab scuttled ashore, I prepared to die. To my surprise, it didn’t attack when I swallowed clumps of its pale, tough little eggs. With deft claws, it built me a shelter and warded off wild animals. My heart warmed toward the strange, beneficent creature. I went willingly when, with gentle nudges, it urged me to the sea one night. Suddenly, a squirming, scrabbling stomach pain drove me to my knees. The crab towered over me, scalpel-sharp claws poised. I realized then it wasn’t me that the crab loved . . . it was her children.

Spawning Time

Miles below the surface, it sleeps. And when the time comes, it wakes and spawns . . . its seed mindlessly seeks flesh to infest and mutate into its hybrid Offspring. 

The last spawning time, extraterrestrial Guardians nudged a comet from orbit and destroyed the Offspring, at the cost of nearly extinguishing all life on Earth. But in the millions of years since, the Guardians themselves have gone extinct. 

This time, the beaches are populated by little apes – happy, innocent, frolicking in the warm surf. This time, the Offspring will have minds, and hands, and technology. 

This time, the Offspring will have space.

Hermitage

She bends down to pick up what she thinks is a half-buried seashell. Digging it out from the damp sand, she turns the smooth, white dome over. 

Sees eye sockets, tiny teeth, a clinging scrap of dry skin and wispy hair. 

A skull. Small. A child’s.

Something glints deep within – beady eyes.

With a bleat of fear and disgust, she drops it.

Too late.

The inhabitant springs out and clutches her face with all ten segmented legs. Feelers probe her eyes. Claws dig and rip, excavating. The soft, pulsing underbelly slips neatly inside.

It is time for a new home.