MicroHorror

Daniel Huntslinger was born in rural Iowa in 1971, a bright young man in general good health. In 1987, he started noticing a fleshy lump above his right hip. An examination concluded that it was a benign tumor, and operation would be unnecessary.

In 1998, when Daniel was 27 years old, the lump, which had never caused him discomfort before, suddenly began hurting intensely. The pain was overwhelming, and Daniel collapsed on the floor of the retail warehouse where he was employed.

Daniel was rushed to the nearest emergency room, and an operation was performed to remove the softball-sized lump of tissue. Upon its removal, the doctors were stunned to see that the so-called tumor possessed hair, several fully-formed teeth, and two tiny fingers, growing out of a shapeless mass of flesh. Daniel had lived his entire life with a teratoma, an unborn twin that had died in the womb and been absorbed into his body. The dead tissue was disposed of, and Daniel made a full recovery.

That was the story the doctors told. But they were wrong, of course.

I didn’t die.