Doomed by Adam Moon

Changes
     
    Mike Williams scratched his shin. It itched like a mother fucker. He resisted the urge to scratch the skin clean off, but just barely. What was odd was that his skin wasn’t inflamed or blotchy. It was something beneath the skin that was irritating him.
    Mike was in his room. He was eighteen and he’d be heading off to college in the fall. He had a lot of anxiety about leaving home and being stuck with so many strangers but now he had to worry that he’d be stuck there with a debilitating skin condition.
    He picked an old fashioned comb off of his computer desk and used it to scrape his skin.
    It felt much better but right away, his other leg started to act up. He gouged at that one with the comb now. When he was done, he was surprised to find seve ral curly leg hairs stuck to it. He took a closer look at his leg and noticed that around each hair sprout was a tiny inflamed patch of skin, no bigger around than a pinhead. They were white but so small as to be nearly invisible to the naked eye.
    Before he could ponder what it meant, he found himself clawing away at his toes. They itched worse than the legs.
    His mom called him down for dinner so he put his pants and shoes back on and hoped like hell that his balls didn’t itch during the meal.
    It was bacon wrapped meatloaf with corn and mashed potatoes on the side. It was his favorite.
    His mom sat down opposite from him and said, “It might be burnt.”
    “You always say that and it never is,” he said with a smile.
    He paused and then said, “I’m all itchy. What do you think it is?”
    “Let me see,” she said as she stood back up and looked him over. “Where do you itch?”
    “All over but mostly my legs right now.” Then he rolled his pant leg up and put his foot on the table.
    She looked his leg over and said, “It doesn’t look like a rash or anything. Take a cool shower and rub some aloe on them.”
    He nodded knowing full well she’d just pulled that little bit of nonsense out of her ass. That wasn’t to say he wasn’t going to do exactly what she prescribed. Her mumbo jumbo worked more often than not.
    For some crazy reason, the meatloaf tasted terrible. He couldn’t get past the first bite. He tried the bacon but that didn’t sit right either. He filled up on potatoes and corn, which was precisely the opposite of how he usually handled dinner. The vegetables normally went in the trash.
    He walked upstairs and grabbed a change of clothes and then went to take that shower.

Hairless
     
    The cool water felt great on his skin. But he knew it would feel better if it was hot so he inched the hot water up until it was just right. Apparently that was a mistake because he started to notice hairs flowing towards the drain. But the relief was too perfect to stop now. He turned the heat all the way up and let the steamy water rush down his body, carrying discarded hairs as it went.
    When he tried to shampoo his hair, huge clumps came out in his hands. He might have screamed except that it felt fantastic. He realized he was losing his mind when he started to purposely tug tufts of it out.
    He got out of the shower before he went completely insane.
    He toweled off and sat on the closed lid of the toilet. He crossed his leg and looked at it. It was almost completely hairless now. He saw a single black hair and grabbed it between thumb and forefinger. He pulled on it gingerly, afraid it might hurt, but the hair came out easily and painlessly. At the end of it was what looked like a sesame seed but it was really the follicle root.
    He stood up and toweled the steam from the mirror. His head was totally bald. But worse, he had no eyebrows or lashes. He sneezed and nose hairs flew from his nostrils. He’d be grossed out if it didn’t feel so right.
    His blue eyes were bloodshot so maybe that’s why they seemed lighter than usual. Before he put his clothes on he made a mental note to make sure he got some sun before school started up. He was white as