Feast

         The room is dark. The curtains are closed. I’m lying on the bed, pulling the blanket up to my nose. And when I hear a knock on the door, I can’t help grinning. Everything has gone as planned.

         I just met her fifteen or twenty minutes ago, dawdling in the forest with her little red hood. She looks so happy and so naive that I’m sure she couldn’t be more innocent than she already is. And before I knew it, we had been walking through the forest together.

         I was hungry back then; I had been so hungry since my wife had eaten all my foods. I was ready to gobble this girl up anytime, but then she told me about her sick grandmother, so I decided to wait.

         Ahh... two humans in one day. If I use my brain, I can feast on both of them. Yes, I’m drooling…

         The grandmother is now safe and sound in my belly. A bit digested, but safe from harm. And the girl shall join her soon.

         ‘Grandmother?’

         The little girl walks into the cottage. The room is too dark for her, perhaps, but that’s the idea. She might run away if she saw the bloodstain on the bed. Of course, that also means I can’t see her well but that doesn’t matter. I can still see the silhouette of her hood. That’s enough to tell that she’s here.

         ‘Come here, dear.’

         The girl hesitates, probably finding there’s something weird in her grandmother’s voice. ‘Grandmother? Are you alright?’

         She steps closer, inch by inch. Still, I wait. I wait until she’s right next to the bed. My drool is flooding under the blanket.

         ‘Grandmother?’

         ‘Yes, dear. I’m alright. In fact…’

         I leap. ‘I’ll feel better than ever, with you in my stomach!’

         And that’s it. The girl screams. I push her hard to the floor. My claws are on her shoulder. My jaws are several inches from her face. I grin. There’s nothing that can save her now. Nothing, except…

         ‘George? What the hell are you doing here?’

         I stop grinning. ‘Martha?’

         ‘God. It’s you. I thought the grandma had superpower or something. Now, get off of me!’

         I do just what she said, still silent and shocked. Then she stands up and I realise that she’s really not the little girl I met in the forest. Under that red hood, there’s another muzzle.

         ‘Where did you get that hood from?’ I ask her.

         ‘From a little girl in the forest. She looked so happy and naive – oh, she’s so cute! – so I killed her and gobbled her up. She also told me that she has a grandmother, so I thought if I wear this hood, the grandma would let me in and I could eat her, too.’

         Then she turns to me. ‘And what are you doing here? That grandma is not your secret lover, is she?’

         ‘No, of course not! I mean — bah! Forget it.’

         ‘Wait, George! Are you two-timing me? And why are you in an old woman’s gown? Is that a bra you’re wearing? Hey, wait!’

         Sighing, I walk out of the cottage. Well, there goes my chance of having a grand feast. If only I just gobbled her up in the forest…