The Worm

The worm moves, very slowly.  Meandering through the cranium, the worm is looking, constantly looking.  Mostly the worm follows a familiar path.  Searching for the novel, the worm contents himself with rolling up the debris he finds into a ball.  Then he nudges the ball into his hole.  This remains his pattern, day after day, hour after hour.

The worm has greater ambition.  He wants to make something other than a ball of debris, something grander. But the worm fears doing so, scared to go off the well known path.  Not long ago the worm found a carved out area dedicated to normal function.  The worm started to pick up what he thought was debris, to begin making his ball.  What happened next shocked the worm to his core.  The host began to shake violently, so much so that the worm thought he might die.  The worm through his wandering had upset normal function.

The worm wonders whether there are other carved out areas that are more beautiful; places that the host wouldn't mind the worm visiting.  The worm would like to see such places and delight in them.  Then the worm could take an artifact or two from the carved out area back to his hole.  This provides the real reason for the worm's journey.  But the worm remains terrified of setting out to find this place.  Too much might go wrong along the way.

So the worm contents himself to follow the path he has already marked, many times over.  The worm maintains the faintest hope that the opening to the beautiful carved out area will simply appear on his well worn path, that he's gone by this entrance many times before but simply missed it.  The worm hopes to see more clearly the next time.

The worm does not delude himself.   As he continues to traverse the familiar path the worm knows that finding the magical opening is becoming less and less likely.  Yet the worm remains too frightened of the possibility of disrupting normal function again.

Has the worm found purgatory in a living host?  If not, how does it end?