Hunger

Day 3 of StoryADay May.
The Prompt:
Take the last line from your favorite book or choose one from the list below. Now write a short piece that ends with that line.

1. No one has claimed them yet.
2. “Let me tell you about it.”
3. Everything must go.
4. “Make me pretty.”
5. And it was still hot.

I am hungry.

Hungry enough that I have considered breaking off a sugary shingle, shoving it into my mouth, swallowing it whole. But I know the sugar wouldn’t fill me for long. In an hour, or less, I would be ravenous again.

I need protein.

And fat.

I have it. Tucked into the corner. Nestled in two cages. My protein trembles. But I can’t eat it.

This year, I am smart. I have a plan. A better plan. I have always lured lost children with my sweet treat cottage. I have trapped them in cages, fattened them up, threatened them with fire. In previous years I have made the threat reality. I have roasted them. Snacked on their succulent young flesh.

But they are small. This year I have a bigger plan.

I will wait for their families to come looking. I will trap them all. Roast them all. The bounty of fresh meat will let me sleep soundly through the long winter.

The hunger gnaws. I grow impatient.

I have turned on my oven. When it’s hot I will roast.

No one has claimed them yet.