​​It's been many years since this occurred, and I'm not sure why I'm writing it now. I guess it's because this particular story has haunted me ever since it happened to me all that time ago...

I woke up with a start, and immediately noticed something was off. I felt a strange sensation, below my midriff. My heart began to race, fear and confusion rising in my chest. I knew it was something bad, something I didn't want to know.

I lay still in bed for a few moments, my mind racing with the possibilities of what I might find. My heart pounded in my chest as I slowly reached down between my legs, and my fingers found nothing but a cold, hard surface. I yanked my hand back, this couldn’t be real. I had a feeling of dread, a feeling I didn't want to acknowledge.

My mind was spinning, confusion and fear rising in my throat. I scrambled out of bed, and stumbled to the bathroom, all too afraid to look down at myself. I stood in front of the mirror, and saw the horror that had befallen me. There was no mistake. Where my genitals once were, there was now a reel of film. The thought of it made me want to puke, but I forced myself to stay still and inspect it further. The film was spooled in a sturdy metal casing, and in the centre of the spool was a small hole, as if it had been threaded through my body.

My stomach lurched, and I felt the bile rising in my throat. I stumbled back to my bedroom, my mind racing with confusion, fear, and disbelief. I called my friends, one by one, my voice shaking with panic.

"Come over," I said. "You won't fucking believe this."

I paced around my bedroom, waiting for them to arrive. How the hell could this have happened?

When they arrived, I could see the shock and confusion on their faces.

“Dave? What the fuck?” one of them asked, his voice full of disbelief.

"I don't know," I said, my voice trembling. "I just woke up like this."

I pulled down my corduroys. They looked at me, their mouths agape. I pointed to the film, and told them what I had found.

"Holy shit," another one said, his eyes wide with shock.

I needed their help. They looked around my room, searching for something to help. One of them found a pair of scissors and handed them to me.

“Try and cut it out,” he said.

I shook my head. “No way,” I said. “It's too deep. It's like it's been implanted.”

My friends gathered closer around the film reel, inspecting it with curiosity.

“Damn, David this looks great,” one said.

"What is this 35mm?" said a second.

“Yeah, can we project it?” another asked.

Did they really want to project this film? Did they really think it was a good idea?

“Come on, man,” one of them said. “We gotta see this.”

I nodded, my throat too tight with fear to answer. The reel of film was attached, buried inside of me, so I couldn't take it out. I had no choice but to stand by the projector as they unspooled it from the space where only yesterday my genitals had been. As they threaded it through the projector, they were careful, and considerate, but I still felt a nervous discomfort.

The room went dark as the projector came to life, and the film began to roll

The room filled with light, and I felt my heart racing. I felt a slight tugging from my groin as the projector began to turn, pulling the film from my body. I shut my eyes, not wanting to see what was coming.

At first, I didn't know what I was seeing. It was a series of images, but I couldn't make sense of them. Then, as the film progressed, I began to comprehend what was happening.

The first clear image was of a butterfly, then of a flower, then of a bird. It was all beautiful, peaceful, and breathtaking. I felt my body relax, the fear and confusion lifting away, this wasn't so bad I thought, maybe this wasn't so bad after all.

“Wow, David. The depth of colour is just phenomenal” one of them said in awe.

Another nodded in agreement. “It’s such a shame that film has fallen out of favour. Just look at that grain.”

Then, the images began to change. They became darker and more disturbing. A crow feasting on the carcass of a seagull. Burning trees. It showed images of death, of violence, of destruction. I saw people being killed, being tortured, their houses crumbling around them. I saw a disaster, a flood, a plague. I saw people starving, and crying in pain, images of hatred. War, a nuclear disaster, and a world in chaos.

I felt like my heart was breaking, my mind trying to make sense of what I was seeing.

“David, turn it off. David!” One of them sobbed, but I was powerless.

I wanted to turn away, to stop the film, but I couldn't. I felt glued to the spot, my eyes wide with shock and terror. The images kept coming, one after another, all too real, too raw, too horrible to comprehend.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, the film stopped. The room was silent save the whirring of the projector. Then my reel ran out and it jammed, going back and forth between the last few stills, tugging me to and fro, until I wrenched myself and the film away, my body shaking with fear.

My friends were silent, the room thick with horror. We all just stood there, too afraid to move. The empty projector clicked and whirred, each sound sending a chill through my bones.

Finally, I broke the silence.

“What the fuck was that?” I said, my voice trembling.

My friends looked at each other, their faces pale with fright.

“I don't know,” one of them said.

"I think it might have been a warning," another said.

I shook my head. “A warning of what?” I asked.

"The end of the world.”

"Jesus," I said, feeling the weight of the words, "What do we do?”

We all just stood there for a few moments, not sure what to do. Finally, I spoke up.

“We should get rid of this thing,” I said. “Whatever it is, it doesn't belong here.”

So they took a pair of scissors to the region that once housed my genitals, I flinched at their touch as they cut the reel of film from me. It came out easily, leaving me empty. It was almost as if it had never been there to begin with, only a cropped nub of celluloid remained (and remains there to this day). We placed the reel in an envelope and sealed it, then buried it in the backyard.

Since then, none of us have ever spoken of what we saw on that reel of film. I often wonder where it came from, and why it was implanted inside of me. Perhaps it was a warning, or a message, or maybe just a cruel joke. Perhaps it was something else entirely.

I guess some things are just meant to remain a mystery.

​

xxx