Bespeckled

300-word story: A young man has to find a solution to a real head-scratcher.

Mikey was a popular guy who got along with everyone. He was one of those people who didn't exactly light up the room yet also never darkened it. Funny and friendly but far from overbearing, he was liked by all and lived a pleasant life.
 
There was just one problem. Mikey suffered from chronic dandruff, which was so severe that at times it would literally weigh on his mind. Sprinkling down from each spiralled lock, it covered his clothes throughout the day and often spilled onto surrounding surfaces. This irrepressible organic debris caused him constant embarrassment and sometimes made it difficult to stay chipper, such was the severity of the condition.
 
It's not like Mikey didn't try to prevent the flakes, as he would use medicated shampoos, oils, scalp massagers and all manner of quirky home remedies in a vain attempt to halt their production. At one point he even shaved off all of his hair in the hope that it would prohibit dead skin, saying farewell to his beautiful curls and throwing them out of the window. But no matter which approach Mikey took, by the time he arrived at work his glasses would be rendered useless by hundreds of white wafers, shoulders hidden by translucent speckles composed of his own DNA.
 
This continued until one morning, enraged by the dandruff's stubbornness, he decided to finally take extreme measures and eliminate the problem at its source.
 
An hour later, when Mikey's colleagues noticed his absence, they simply assumed he was pulling a sickie and continued with their tasks. Little did they know that the young man was slumped in the shower with a cheese grater clenched in both hands, red water cascading over his lifeless body, and a ghoulish grin stretching all the way from ear to fleshless ear.

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Copyright © 2021 Rich Sutherland
​Image: Eugene Chystiakov

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