June flicked on the light and trudged into her room, her body aching. Work had sucked, big surprise there, but inventory had been a real bitch, especially since she had spent half the day moving items aside so she could count the items behind them. Sure James had helped, but Dave, their manager, had pulled him away before they were halfway done. So, she had been struggling with heavy, bulky containers for four hours, alone. If even one of her nails weren't chipped, she'd be shocked.

She sat down and kicked her shoes off with a sigh. She grabbed the remote from the nightstand and flicked on the small TV, but didn't really pay attention. One of the talking heads rambled on about some disaster on another continent—as if she gave a damn. Maybe if she weren't so sore, she may, but right now, well, right now her pity level was at an all time low. She pulled her socks off and tossed them at the small bin at the side, but they fell short, landing in crumpled up piles on the floor.

She practically threw herself backwards, not caring about the rest of her clothing at the moment. She could fall asleep right now, even though she wasn't resting on a pillow. She closed her eyes and yawned, stretching out on the bed. Maybe… it wouldn't be such a bad idea just to go to sleep? She closed her eyes and smiled, letting out a long breath, letting herself begin to drift off.

A pleasant darkness was just beginning to fill her mind when her alarm blared. She winced, rolled over and slammed her open palm down on it, granting a momentary reprieve. She opened her eyes with a sigh of frustration, staring at the red bars on the digital clock. She scowled, understanding exactly why she was late to work. She had set it for PM rather than AM. She scowled, grabbing the clock to fix it, then snarling and tossing the thing away instead. She really wasn't in the mood.

She turned over, grabbed the remote, and shut off the TV. She wanted sleep. She needed sleep. It was almost too much effort to take her shirt off to make herself more comfortable. But she sat up, reluctantly, and did it, tossing it aside, onto the socks, quickly followed by her bra. She stood briefly, shimmying her skirt off, and then lay back down, not even bothering to cover herself.

Shish waited. It could hear the human girl's breath slowing. She was going to sleep. She didn't know any better. She couldn't have. Shish hadn't given her any reason to be concerned, worried, afraid for her life. Shish would never be so foolhardy, so rash or stupid. No, Shish was nothing like their kind. It would be done, and it would be done flawlessly. No one would ever know.

Shish waited, watching her chest rise and fall. It could feel consciousness leaving her, draining away into dreams. Still, Shish waited, watching her mind, peering inside it. It would not be taken by surprise. It would not be denied. The human was still far too conscious, even now that she was asleep, for his tastes. He would wait. He had time. He would wait.

Shish let itself slip away from her mind, freeing itself from the limitations that these creatures held. It felt dirty, defiled. Their thoughts were disgusting, all of them. Their entire species was but a blot on this planet. They were so limited, so painfully limited. Even the greatest of their kind were blind, unworthy of anything more than contempt. They were little more than cattle. They knew nothing; they lived and died by their own hands. Their creations, mere toys, helped them so little. They chose their own fate, being controlled, being led and manipulated. So much like the animals they held dominion over.

Shish felt anger boil within it. Its people, its people had understood, had understood so much. Their thoughts, so far beyond this petty species, echoed in its mind, whispering to Shish, like a mother, like a lover. And then they were so painfully, so cruelly, snatched away. Shish bit back a howl of anguish. Its people had refused it, had abandoned it here, on this worthless speck, to suffer, to die. It was torture, feeling the minds of the others, the minds of equals, pulling away. They left Shish to this torture, to the cruel mindlessness and solitude of this world.

Shish bit back rage and bitterness, its mind shrieking for release, and so it dove, desperately, selfishly, happily, back into June's mind. The dreams there, the limitless enjoyment of unconfined thought, washed over Shish like a wave of relief and it relaxed. The pain had lasted so long. How long had it been since it had last held a host? How long had it been since it had reached something worthy?

Shish moaned in this brief moment of ecstasy. The waking mind of humans, so far from their slumbering one, was painful to reach inside. Reluctantly, Shish withdrew. The female was asleep, asleep enough for Shish not to worry. It had time, all the time it needed. She would never wake up again…

Shish slowly, quietly, slipped away the covers, spilling through from beneath as well as slowly, inexorably, pulling itself away from the edges as it drew itself closer and closer around June's body. June moaned slightly, stirring only slightly, her dreams taking an interesting turn with James in the stockroom. Shish reacted quickly, pooling up around her body, rising and covering her, enveloping her entire body. June whimpered, her dream rising to a climax, James moving so fast, almost as if he were everywhere at once.

Shish slithered over her almost naked body, rolling over her breasts and sending a shiver down her spine. Her legs moved a little, but Shish paid her no heed, coating them with its body, concentrating for a moment to cut the last vestiges of clothing before coating every inch of her waist. Her arms were all but covered, her fingers twitching a bit as he spread over them in a thin layer. Shish continued, rolling over the top of her chest, her shoulders, and her throat. She gasped in her dream, her eyes pinching together. Shish almost smiled to itself, running over her red lips and spilling into her mouth as it rolled over her nose.

June tried to draw breath, but couldn't. For a moment, her sleepy mind didn't care, but then it tried again. It was like trying to breathe through a bag. She tried to open her eyes, tried to find what was wrong, but felt as if something held them shut. Her arms pulled tightly to her sides, and she began to panic, her own body fighting to choke it. And then everything became heavy. She whimpered in terror, as everything became dark so very dark…

It burned. It was like acid, washing over it. Her thoughts, breaking free from her dreams, desperate thoughts of survival, had caught it unaware. Shish flailed for a moment before regaining control. She was waking up. It had to hurry, stretching over the woman's eyes and over her forehead. It sprawled over her hair, completely encircling her just in time. Her body began to fight it, moving on its own accord. Shish howled, feeling her thoughts almost pushed upon it, but now, now it fought back. It released a wave of its digestive fluid over her, and she relaxed, the narcotic like fluids sending her into a deep sleep almost instantly.

Shish surged down her throat, to her lungs, and then stopped, opening a fresh airway. It quickly created an opening for the human to breath through. It forced a deep gasp, allowing new breath to fill her aching lungs, and then another. If she were awake, she might have felt relieved, but Shish knew, from the sudden bliss that washed over it, that she was asleep, and dreaming. It relaxed, resting over her like a second skin, slowly changing the pigments in its skin from that of her quilt, to those of her skin. Over her body, every inch that was coated was beginning to normalize. Everything became exactly as it had looked moments before, except for the almost indiscernible increase in width.

Shish blinked, using its new false eyes, matching her own exactly. It would be able to use this body, this human, for sustenance and… companionship, for weeks before it's digestive fluids finally killed her. She would feel no pain; she would never regain consciousness as the fluids that dissolved her kept her in the blessed dream state. In the interim, it would act just like her. Shish relaxed, enjoying the senses that sprung from June's mind until it too went to sleep.

Author's Notes: Yeah, I'm still alive. And Shish is a genderless alien, hence the lack of gender specific terms throughout the story (using the words: he or she would be an offensive notion to Shish). It was a bitch going back and removing all gender terms. Shish can change shape, form, and color. His digestive can be excreted from any part of his body, so he must engulf things that he is attempting to eat.

This was an odd idea, but I liked writing it, and it took me about two days to write and a day to edit. I hope you enjoyed. And hopefully more soon…