“We must attack, now!” The virions made their way past her tonsils and ventured into the dark depths of her craw. The lazier ones snuggled into the dark mucoid folds of her pharynx while the more determined virions made their way further down into her larynx. The rebels of the lot went against gravity towards her Eustachian tubes. These troublemakers had no qualms about the pain they were going to cause their ignorant little female host who would notice their presence only two days later.

Their ancestors had bestowed upon them a gift somewhat like that of a Trojan horse. Sneakily, they invaded their unsuspecting victims using their structurally complementary appendages to latch onto the respiratory receptors of their favourite species. They favoured the young who lacked hygienic boundaries and the old who were immunocompromised.

Three days later, after complaining of a sore throat, ear pain and a runny nose, the little girl was diagnosed with influenza.