Bogleech.com's 2019 Horror Write-off:
A Body Secret
Submitted by Dandelion Steph
A strange man stood at the corner of the park. Alone at the swing swung a young girl, oblivious to all but the back-and-forth of her body.
The strange man hunched over, looking from side to side. No one was around. No one would see. He worked his jaw, staring at the young girl. Then, with a strange expression, the man came to a decision.
The strange man stood by the girl at the swing. With an outstretched foot, the girl politely stopped her swinging and tilted her head up at him.
The man smiled.
"Can you keep a body secret?"
The girl paused, crinkling her face and looking downward. Then she nodded.
An even bigger smile broke across the strange man's face, puzzling the girl.
"Finally. It's been so long..."
The man straightened up, looking around with an alert expression. Then, he zipped down his jacket...
...and the rest of his skin.
Inside, the flesh of his chest was wet, slightly greasy, and a little yellowish-white, like a layer of mozzarella cheese on a pizza or a huge, irregular mass of crab meat. It faintly crackled like fading rain.
He leaned in towards her.
"Inside...I am not human."
Then the stranger zipped up his skin, and his jacket, and left the playground without a look back.
The girl tilted her head at him and soon went back to swinging.