It’s a stealth weapon. Its attacks are rare and random. It generally strikes once and is gone. It’s never seen.

Case History: I will feel a sudden, slight prick, generally under clothing, and discover a fresh “bug” bite, but with nothing there that could have caused the bite. The bite will swell into a hard, mildly itchy lump, and will often develop a red halo an inch and a half or more across. If that’s an infection, this little nasty has some very dirty jaws.

Additional Details: There is only one bite. Months, even years, separate repeat occurrences. Geography doesn’t seem to matter. The last time this happened was nine months ago in an air-conditioned hotel room in Palm Desert, California.

Occam’s Razor suggests the assailant is a naturally evolved arthropod—either insect or arachnid—but exactly what it is, I still have no idea.

It’s not a mosquito. I hardly react to those and they don’t get under clothes.

It’s probably not a bedbug or a flea, because they don’t bite just once and then disappear.

I’m guessing it’s a spider, probably a tiny, newly hatched one. I’d really like to know what it is though. I’d like to see it. So I can smash it.

Deep down, I’m not a very nice person.