Parasite: Fantasy

The back of her neck itched. She clasped her hands in her front of her, trying to fight down the urge to scratch and scrape at the lump wherein the parasite squirmed. The healer had told her that such activity would only excite it, causing it to try and grow further or--worse--making it move to a more difficult spot, where they would have trouble finding it. It might even go deeper, he'd warned, and then she might die when they tried to remove it. Charity closed her eyes, wishing for her needlework. She hadn't brought along any of the small handiworks that the women busied their leisure time with, because she'd been unable to think of anything save the parasite that had taken up residence since she saw the lump that morning. She'd--

Inspiration: "parasite"
Story Potential: Medium
Notes: Fantasy, I think. Some sort of small rural colony, maybe with a rural American settlers feel. And something has started happening to them.