xxi. hunger
Cold. The night consumes. Murrey hungers.
Pain.
Waves breaking on rocks: the beach. His stomach growls; behind him a trail of footprints, left right left right left.
"Hello?" someone says. His head swivels, red-rimmed eyes darting. There, on the shore, a child, a girl, warm, breathing. Alive.
He approaches. "Murrey hungry."
The child is frightened; she takes a step backward. Blood inside her, meat, bones, a beating heart. His stomach growls. Murrey hungers.
He lunges forward; the child screams, struggles, water splashing, clothes tearing. Silence. The sound of ripping flesh, a crunch, the song of pink waters.
Murrey is sated.