‘Alysm’ by Irenosen Okojie

I discovered Irenosen Okojie’s writing when a version of this story appeared alongside mine in an anthology of speculative fiction inspired by true stories about women’s bodies, called Disturbing the Body from Boudicca Press. This story is the most impactful and affecting responses to the early days of the pandemic that I’ve come across.

“There is a lump in my throat. I sense an alien force hijacking my system. I feel it moving inside me. My body is no longer mine alone. It is a host for something malevolent.”

First published in The London Magazine, 2021, and available online here; also published in Disturbing The Body, Boudica Press, 2021