Dreadful

by Caitlin Rozakis

So, this was shock. It seemed terribly inconvenient that the brain’s reaction to being placed in mortal jeopardy was to become much stupider.

He could hear, in the distance, people screaming. Whether it was “oh heavens, what was that noise” panic or “there’s a monster here eating us—the pain, mercy, sweet gods the pain” panic, he couldn’t tell.

“Look, if things go well, or even just all right, and somehow we don’t all die horribly, we’ll plan a real feast. You and me. And we’ll invite just people we actually like, and they’ll eat, and maybe nobody will die at all.”

His last thought was, “Well, that was stupid.”