I burst through the door, panting in fear into what happened before my eyes a few steps back. I had to know what was wrong with me, I ran upstairs to search for a pair of scissors, I looked through the desk drawer, the cup holder where I put all my pens and pencils, and I found them just lying on the floor. I forgot why, but was too scared to care. I opened the scissors and made my way to the wrist, but my left hand reacted and combusted into a fleshy mess of eyes and fingers, horrified at what was in front of me, no, on me, it even spoke. "I..failed..I...failed" It gazed at me with a blank stare, giving off the emotion of wanting death, it was almost sad. "Wha..What do you mean 'Failed'?" I asked it, it's eyes looking in many directions as if not knowing how to function them. "I...Failed..to eat...I..failed...to eat." "Eat?" I asked, "Eat what?" it took a second for it to answer, but it answered slowly, like it didn't know how to speak, "B..b..Brain...eat..brain."

I dropped the scissors and covered my mouth to prevent myself from screaming, I then slumped down onto the floor, it drooped a little and said "Tired...very..tired. Must...rest...teach me to speeeak." It then disappeared as if being one with my hand, which what felt like it was. I was relieved and terrified still to know that this thing was part of me, I remembered the tennis ball sized spore that landed next to me the other night, I remembered the small snake like creature that entered my left arm, I remembered what happened 15 seconds ago, I remembered the tone of voice this thing had, it was the tone of someone just now learning the world, 

I decided that I should sleep this nightmare off, if it was even real. I My bed was nothing special, just a mattress with no bed frame, just some pillows and blankets with a stupid anime girl sheet thrown on top of the mattress. It was better than nothing, it at least made me sleep at night. I threw the covers over my cold body, expecting the warmness to kick in, it never would. The same feeling everyone would have when they would put a blanket on them crept over me, that feeling of the blanket being cold when you expect it to be warm, only the warm comes from you or the heat from the heater. The pillow was limp and soggy, not from being wet, just from being used since my late nights where I would stay up till dawn working on comics for the art school newspaper, I would sometimes make ones about anime cliches, like how when a character would get a nosebleed and would bleed more blood then the blood in their body, or how an anime character's sword always gets bigger and bigger, or how overpowered a character is to the point that they can kill a person with one punch. I would drink energy drinks and coffee just to make one single comic, it was only one page too, the problem wasn't coming up with the ideas, I had plenty of them, the problem was drawing the comic on a mattress. The pillow collected both sweat and tears from over 2 years ago, the musty smell and taste made it harder to concentrate on sleeping. The creature that was part of my hand still burned an image into my mind, I imagined what would've happened if it managed to take over the brain, I imagined what it would've been like with that thing in my brain. I tried to forget about it and just think of something else, but it kept coming up, it kept reminding me of what I'm stuck with, it reminded me that I had to live with this thing on my hand forever.

I slowly opened my eyes to see that it was starting to become daylight, thankfully, I was off today, so I didn't have to deal with any 'Incidents' with my left hand today. I rose up from my bed to see this thing reading a bunch of my art books, I was both impressed and mad, it left a pile of books on the floor, they were all organized and kept on a miniature shelf next to my desk, and they were all on the floor an a mess. "Enjoying your studies?" I asked as it turned around to find I was awake. "I'm learning a lot thanks to these knowledges." Cleverly, it knew how to speak well. "Tell me something, Yuji. What made you so fascinated into art?" It asked, I was actually impressed that it scared me. "Well, it's actually a funny story, see my friend Shinichi was in my class and he was struggling so I told him what needed to be done and he just got a little better. I then grew to love art ever since then. It means a lot to me." "I see, so your life depends on a meaningless task to create and destroy and create again until your satisfied with the filthy mess you've made? I'm right, aren't I? Yuuujiii?" It curled it's lips into a smirk, it shocked me to know how it was almost right, it scared me to know how it used big words like that, like hearing a child say something like 'Inconceivable' or 'Putrid'. "Your wrong actually, art to us is a hobby." "A hobby?" It asked confused. "Yeah, something you would do in your spare time to do something other than stare at a wall all day. It keeps me at bay." The thing attached to my hand walked towards me with stubby little legs, it looked up at me and just simply asked for a piece of paper and something to write with. "If you really call this a hobby, if you ask me, it's a waste of time. But I wish to learn how to 'Create' as you humans do." I smiled as if I were being asked to judge a little kid's drawing, it made me feel kinda sick for some reason. "All right Hidari, show me what you got." "Hidari?" it asked, "Why Hidari?" "Well it means left in japanese, and you took over my left hand, so it works perfectly." I smiled. "Normally I wouldn't agree with such a name, name's are pointless in life, it's something that humans are given so they can remember something at the end of the day. But I have to be called something other than 'It' or 'That Thing'. So I'll accept this name, plus it suits me," I was carrying around a smart ass, I thought to myself. The now named Hidari used the same technique I used when I would draw my characters, draw a circle and make a criss-cross line in the center to make the eyes and mouth later. I went along with him, I pulled out my sketchbook and mechanical pencil, I decided to draw someone simple, nothing hard or easy, but just detailed enough to look good for the fridge.

"I'm finished," Hidari announced, "It's not much, but I know it'll be worse than yours." He grinned. He handed me the paper, and I was amazed to see what he drew.

It was very detailed, it even had wrinkles on the shirt, even shadows in between the wrinkles. "Impressive." I say, Hidari looked at me as if I meant it sarcastically, "Let's see yours, now." I handed him the sketchbook my father gave to me when I started to go to art school, it had stickers and little doodles more on the front then on the inside, Hidari looked at my drawing and then back at me, "What is this supposed to be?" he asked

"It's the professor from nichijou." I responded, he raised an eyebrow and I realized that he has no idea what anime is, "Well, you did fine too, for an ammeter." 

Hidari fell asleep after we discussed how he would now be a part of my body, he would sleep when necessary and I would have my left hand. It didn't really matter if I couldn't use my left hand since I could still use my right, but it was nice to have my left hand still. I decided to go shopping because the anniversary of when me and Muta met. It's actually funny when you tell the story twice, Muta and I were in Middle School together and it was around valentines day. It was brutally cold and I was told to layer up, I saw Muta shivering in the cold while she was waiting for the bus to drop her off. We both took the same bus, and the bus wouldn't be there for another 5 minutes, she would've been frozen solid by the time it arrived. So I gave her my second coat and we became friends, few years pass by and we end up dating, ever since then, we've been celebrating the time I "Saved her life". 

She loved my work, but every year it was the same thing, a painting of fruit or something else. But this year I'm actually going to buy her something. Something special. There was a flee market up ahead, I thought I might as well check it out to see if there was anything there that would pass as an anniversary gift. 

There wasn't much there to begin with, there was old jewelry that was rusty and old, there was old paintings that interested me, but probably wouldn't interest Muta. All that would pass as a 'gift' was these things called tsum tsums, which was like stuffed animals that looked like pandas and were in different colors. There were different kinds from pop culture stuff like anime and TV, but I didn't think she would be interested in it. After what felt like an eternity, there was finally something that I know she would like, it was a necklace that looked brand new and was only $12, it was a deal for the poor sucker.

It glistened in the sun set light, it had a red ruby in the middle that gave off a beautiful red glow, it was surrounded in a gold ring that had a sliver of writing on it that said, 

愛は素晴らしいものです

Ai wa subarashī monodesu

Love is a Wonderful thing

I wrapped it up in wrapping paper that made it look more presentable then the actual box it came in, and waited for her to get off of work. Her job was as easy as pushing buttons, it was only a small job at a gas station, she was the cashier and a damn good one at that, but it was her second week there since she just started not too long ago. She normally gets off at 2:00 or 3:00 pm, making her be home before me. I, of course, take the late shifts to keep the show alive, but that's besides the point.

It was 1:00, she would be home soon. She normally takes the bus home because we don't have a car, and our jobs are of equal distance apart. Hidari was awake, I could tell because me left hand was numb, "What's with the present?" He asked, "It's an anniversary gift for Muta." "Who's Muta?" Hidari asked. "She's my girlfriend, today's the 5th year anniversary that we started dating. It's something special to the both of..." "Blah Blah Blah! When do you mate?" He said out of no where. "Wha.. Where is this coming from?" I asked shocked to hear what he said. "Isn't that how most mammals show their 'Love' to each other." I was curious on how he knew how sex worked, he was literally born yesterday. "Where did you find this information?" I asked. He stretched out and went into my room, he brought back a magazine and handed it to me. "I found this while you were out today," It was a porn magazine, it gave advice on how to have a good sex life, had an add for viagra, some models posing for swimsuit calendars, and in the back, an article on how animals have to have genitalia to make babies. "YOU STOLE THIS!?" I yelled, "No, no, no. Yeah" I threw the magazine into the garbage and started scolding Hidari. "You can't steal, it's not how the world works. I could've been blamed for that you know?" He had the look of no sympathy, it angered me more, "So? It's not my fault that I wasn't able to take over your brain, it wasn't my fault that I was created, and it's not fault that I was born without a purpose or a goal in life." I started to calm down and also feel kinda bad, it's true that Hidari hasn't any goals or morals, I would give him one, but he would never accept it, anything would intrigue him, but I'm not sure my kind of goals would interest him. "If you want a goal, or a purpose in life, I could give you one." I offered, he turned to me and smiled, "I'd like that, but what did you have in mind?" I went into my room and busted out a whole binder full of loose leaf paper and gave him a mechanical pencil, the binder was full of my original drawings, it was the birth place of many creative ideas, some stupid, but creative things. My dad and I used to make up stupid characters like 'Hot Dog Man' we even gave him a backstory that a meteor fell from earth and a chunk fell into a BBQ pit, mutating a normal hot dog to have super human abilities. It was funny and me and my dad loved drawing it. It was the stupidest yet amazing thing me and my dad had ever created. 

I explained that this binder helped me create a bunch of original characters and helped me practice a lot. "It's free for you to use now." I told him. He would be able to create his own things and learn better, although he could practically draw starry night with his eyes closed. "If you want a goal, try and master a drawing style, like mine almost. My style is cartoony and not realistic, you can have a totally different style." He picked up the pencil and started to draw a face, it was his face. H drew the outline of my arm that was connected to him, and he drew the curve he had with his single eye, it actually looked pretty good. "Like this?" He asked. I nodded and he flipped the page, starting to create another drawing.

I heard the door open and I freaked out, Hidari was still drawing and he showed no sign of stopping. I yanked my left arm to let him know he needs to stop, he ignored it at first, so I then grabbed the part that was originally my hand, I started to pull him away, but he was glued to the binder, as if his life depended on finishing this drawing. It looked great, but I didn't have time to look at art when Muta was on her way upstairs. "Yuji! You up there?" She yelled up, "Yeah, gimme a second!" I yelled back. Before I could say anything, the sound of Muta's footsteps echoed as she made her way to my room. "Hidari! Stop!" I whispered, he kept ignoring me, he was so into finishing this drawing that he would risk his own existence. "Yuji are you.." She froze in fear as she saw Hidari. Finally Hidari looked up to see why I was trying to stop him, he put the pencil down and slithered back into hand form. Muta screamed, she then fainted. I ran to her, hoping she wasn't hurt, she was still breathing, but I was afraid if she were to remember the sight of Hidari

She woke up and blinked for a bit to find me holding a cup of water in front of her. She took it and drank it, her gulps grew faster before I could urge her to stop. She looked at me, and then grabbed my left hand. Thankful for hidari to be asleep, I let her take my hand. She inspected it and looked over every detail. "What's wrong, Muta?" I asked, she looked at me and asked "What was that thing on your hand?" I pretended to tell her she must've been dehydrated, I told her to lie down for a while and try to forget about it. I left her alone with her thoughts and the open window. 

"That was close, if she knew about me, I would have hessitated to kill her." I froze knowing Hidari said that. "What do you mean? Hidari. Are you saying..." "It's mine, and mine alone, priority to keep the both of us safe." He interrupted. "Imagine, it starts with one person, then that person posts what she saw on social media, then her friends share it with their friends, and the cycle would continue until the whole world knows of our existence. So if you want those you love to stay alive, never tell anyone that I am your left hand, or I will be forced to eradicate anyone who knows of our presence." His words froze my words in my mouth, it surprised me how he was able to threaten me with family members and my own girlfriend. 

Night arrived and tiredness overwhelmed my body. I slumped my way to my mattress and crashed. I only got what felt like 5 minutes of sleep, Hidari woke me up. "Yuji, did you know that humans can reproduce their own species more than any other creature on earth?" He exclaimed. "...That's great..."