Friday Flash Fiction - Bitten

Late at night, I was just drifting off to sleep when I heard a sound in my back yard, like something was rummaging around our bins. I was tired, and I figured it was a stray cat, but then I heard the bin tip over, so I figured I'd better investigate. I padded downstairs, bleary and annoyed, then stepped outside into the night to survey the damage.

There seemed to be a small feral child digging through our food scraps. He was injured and wearing just an old nappy, but otherwise seemed healthy. I know it sounds nuts, but believe me it gets worse.

I wasn't sure what you're supposed to do when you find a stray child in your back yard. Take him in? Call the police? Try to scare him off like an animal? I know, I've never been good with kids. I settled on bringing him inside to warm up and then calling the police to handle it.

I called out gently, not wanting to startle him. It turns out he was easily startled. His head snapped up to look at me with equal parts fear and surprise, plus just a little bit of crazy. I tried to approach slowly and say generic soothing things, but when I got close enough to reach out my arm, the little urchin struck out, quick as a snake, and bit me!

I think he ran off, but I don't know for sure. I felt woozy and passed out, then woke up a few hours later, shivering cold. I got myself back inside, took a quick hot shower to warm up, washed and dressed my bite mark (can't believe I got bitten by a feral child), made a mental note to get a tetanus shot or something in the morning, then found my bed, comfy and cozy, to sleep the rest of the night.

I actually slept until sundown, woke up relaxed but hungry. All I had in the fridge that looked appealing were two punnets of strawberries, which I wolfed down. They were really good.

I had a ton of energy, so I went out for a run through the park behind my house. When I saw a couple sitting on a bench I just don't know what came over me, but I felt like I wanted to shoot him with an arrow, and it felt ... positive somehow.

You want to know my theory? It's super-crazy, but ... I think I got bitten by Cupid. And for a while now, I've had to suppress archery-related urges. I don't know if it's going to last, but I really hope it goes away.

Mokalus of Borg

PS - What would it be like if cupidity was transmissible?
PPS - And would it be called "cupidity"?