| 3:11a |
@@@@@He ate one slowly, letting
me hear each
@@@@@He ate one slowly, letting
me hear each distinct crunch
My stomach growled loudly, and I laughed at myselfI hadn't laughed in so long; I tried to
remember the last time and couldn't–just that strange bout of macabre hysteria in the desert,
which really didn't count aslaughterEven before I'd come here, there hadn't been much I'd
found funny
But this seemed hilarious to me for some reason–my stomach yearning after that one small
Cheeto–and I laughed againA sign of madness, surely
I didn't know how my reaction offended him, but he got up and disappearedAfter a long
moment, I could hear him eating the Cheetos again, but from farther awayI peeked out of the
hole to see that he was sitting in the shadows at the end of the corridor, his back to meI pulled
my head inside, afraid he might turn and catch me watchingFrom then on, he stayed down at
that end of the hall as much as possibleOnly at night did he stretch out in front of my prison
Twice a day–or rather twice a night, as he never took me when the others were about–I got to
walk to the room with the rivers; it was a highlight, despite the terror, as it was the only time I
was not hunched into the unnatural shapes my small cave forced on meEach time I had to
crawl back inside was harder than the last
Three times that week, always during the sleeping hours, someone came to check on us
The first time it was Kyle
Jared's sudden lunge to his feet woke me“Get out of here,” he warned, holding the gun ready
“Just checking,” Kyle saidHis voice was far away but loud and rough enough that I was sure it
was not his brother“Someday you might not be hereSomeday you might sleep too soundly
Jared's only answer was to cock the gun
I heard Kyle's laughter trailing behind him as he left
The other two times I didn't know who it |