Neurotoxin, Katie Pullinger

I was behaving oddly, that day.

I entered a room with grey linoleum and no windows. A tall woman told me to lie down on my back. She shone a bright light into my face. She pierced my skin, many times, with a small needle. She injected me with a biological agent.

The biological agent was produced by a certain bacterium called Clostridium botulinum. This bacterium is generally found in soil and in the intestines of animals. Clostridium botulinum is closely related to Clostridium tetani, the germ that causes lockjaw. Lockjaw is an invariably fatal disease against which most Australians have been vaccinated.

The biological agent poisoned my nerve cells, leading to muscle paralysis.

I made no protest.

It was as if I was under a spell.