Delicacies

It was forbidden to leave the cabin. Life outside, free from the familiar veil of worm-eaten planks, was grim and bizarre. Civilization long since decimated, the earth echoed of cessation and stank of oblivion.

But they were alone.

Father was dead.

They needed food.

The siblings stumbled down the road. Empty houses specked the sides, offering nothing. Almond eyes peered with hollow expectancy into the bleak horizon. “Just a little further...”

And, in a rush of chocolate and gingerbread, it was there. Life halted. Eyes were rubbed in self-doubt and jaws dropped, forming rigid O’s of astonishment. Dirty hands grabbed at the sweets before them, frantic with the promise of long forgotten delicacies.

And mutely, the dark silhouette of madness watched over them as, lost in there insanity, the children shoved the charred remains of life into their mouths.

This was their end.