The food’s smell weighs her down to her chair. Opening her mouth, she licks her lips as the desire to consume becomes stronger. She grabs the fork near her plate. Its prongs are sharp like a knife. Her arms move without thought, jerky in motion as she scrapes food onto her plate. A warning pops in her head. It’s said by a woman that seems so familiar to her but her mind is blank on her identity.

“One bite and bound forever,” the woman said, wiping jam off of a little girls face.

Her face. She was once that little girl. Something sparks inside of her, almost nulling her hunger. Grief. From that grief, a word is remembered. Mother. Her mother was always overprotective, warning her about creatures in forests and dangerous people with trustworthy smiles. In this particular instance, it’s a simple warning to tell a child not to take food from strangers.

A laugh rings from the table and she finds herself laughing along with them. This meal offered to her wasn’t one from strangers but from friends. Yes, she couldn’t place their names but she feels as if she’s known them her whole life. The lively energy at the table burns away any laxness lingering inside her.

The desire to eat is squashed as a new desire burns within her. Dance. Her feet needed to move across the ground, moving as light as air. However, she does not move as the plate she is scraping food onto gets higher and higher.

Trying to stop, she moves to drop her fork but her grip remains tight. A glance at her arms showcases a strange sight. On both of her arms, there are patchy blotches of skin all an unusual graying color. Her mind becomes cloudy as a fog descends over the table. The only visible thing is her plate which is towering over now. Finally, she’s able to stop scraping but she does not move from the table. Her desire to dance is gone. There is only hunger.

She is ready to devour but the food on her plate transforms before her eyes. Brain. It looks like a brain. Her jaw opens wide. Wider. Wider. Until it cracks. Saliva drips from her mouth until it is a pool on top of the beautiful delectable brain.

“You can fight this,” she remembers her mom saying, no, begging. “Please!”

A tear trickles from her eye as she fully remembers what she’s become. She drops her fork. If she takes a bite…just like before then…a sickening taste spreads on her tongue. Her stomach rumbles and the gruesome hunger inside, grows stronger.

“What do you think those monsters think as they eat us?” She hears someone say.

She looks around but there is still only fog surrounding her. The sickening taste in her mouth no longer feels sickening. It feels right. It feels needed.

Brains, it’s the only word she’s thinking of now.

“I don’t think they think at all.” She hears someone reply. “Could be why they eat brains.”

“We’ll they’re definitely not gaining any insight from their meal. Look at them, all easy shots.” Someone else brags.

The fog surrounding her is clearing. Picking up her fork with all her strength, she prepares to eat.

This time nothing is holding her back from devouring her delicious meal.

“Wait, this one’s still twitching!” She hears someone scream, a different person than before.

Bang. The feast was over and she didn’t have a bite to eat.