Lament of the Danelope (short story page 2 of . . . )

So now you have an idea of what a Danelope is and you have the basics of where this creature comes from but I'm sure you are wondering what the heck a Danelope looks like. In a nut shell, if you take your thumb and pull it in to meet your two middle fingers to form a muzzle of sorts and then allow your piny and index finger to remain erect like antlers you have the physical manifestation of a Danelope.

In the early days of Brono's relationship with Dan, his pet name for the parasitic alien living in his limb, Brono had no idea his arm and hand were possessed or what a Danelope was. Then again Brono didn't have a very clear view of what was going on in general much to Dan's advantage.

On more than one occasion aboard Brono's Navy vessel Dan had influence the unsuspecting Brono's actions. Little did everyone know, including Brono, That when his ship ran an exercise in repelling boarders and Brono sat in a lawn chair on the main deck with a bucket of highly charged capacitors it was the Danelope who was chucking these improvised depth charges at the unsuspecting Navy Seals. This behavior was later attributed to the massive amounts of medication Brono was on as was the existence of a disembodied trans-dimensional symbiotic alien parasite spirit.

On a side note, no one was killed during this exercise. Several of the Navy Seals had to be treated for minor nerve damage and burns but all ended well. I believe Brono should have been recognized for creative and innovative thinking. Regardless Brono still had no idea that his limb was slowly being taken over and he would soon come face to face with his own hand and one of the best friends he will ever have.

Full awareness of his situation came at 03:00 on a hot summer night in 1995, somewhere in the South Pacific. The entire ship was running silent for a sonar test. All unnecessary equipment and personnel were to shut down and make no noise. Brono was in the radio room with a bottle of Jim Beam he smuggled about earlier that week while to boat was at port. His hand was staring at him. The Danelope had taken full control and his antlers or more accurately feelers were slowly twitching as the hand tilted it's self in the way a cute puppy tilts his head when you say it's name.