The Axolotl

The Argentinian writer Julio Cortazar has a haunting short story about a writer who becomes possessed by an axolotl, which is an unmaturing larvae species of salamander from the ancient lakes beneath Mexico City.

The writer discovers the axolotls at the Paris aquarium and returns day after day to stare at them, utterly transfixed by the otherworldly creatures. In their faces he sees that they are suffering, imprisoned in a slug-like body and a glass underwater tomb.

Over time, the writer realizes that he is an axolotl himself and is on the inside of the glass tank, looking out at himself as a human looking in. The axolotl is terrified that he is a sentient being trapped in an axolotl's body. The terror of the axolotl consumes the writer and becomes the only thing he can think about. The axolotl hopes the writer will one day write a story to let the world know about his pain.

And, apparently, that is what happened.