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A child, no older than 6, had been stuffing his mouth with the green goo in the fridge. His older sister tells him to stop that its bad for him, but it tastes so good.
A year later he was on a field trip to the capital of his state, he saw it in the corner of his eye. The green pool in the air, before he thought about it he said he was going to the bathroom and ran in. He never made it to the bus, he never got to see the state building. He woke up in his bed the next morning much warmer than he had been the previous day.
He 10 know. He’s learned to be sneakier, he learned the blobs that speak to him are more delicious than the ooze in the fridge. But they speak to him openly in the labs, late at night when he should be in bed. They beg to be freed from their confines, to not suffer anymore. Last month he saw on the news that some zoos will kill a suffering animal if they are dying anyway.
He asks if they want to stop suffering. They always say yes. They’re acceptance tastes better than fear.
His mom has started asking questions about the missing subjects, he says he doesn’t know. They can’t prove it was him. They praise him for how cleanly he eats.
His big sister is worried. She doesn’t know that he’s so hungry, that ‘good’ food is like ash. The Green is good because green is a good color. She starts watching him too closely, his stomach feels empty.
After it happened, after the accident, after he became one of them, his stomach was impossible to satisfy. He couldn’t keep ‘food’ down, he could keep eating. So he lost weight till he was skin and plasmic. His other self was healthy, that was enough. That self was able to fight and still be praised, and people loved him.
But the Hunger.
It began with the hunter. The shell was opened and he was slurped up at once. A clam to the gaping maw.
His friends were worried, he wasn’t eating. Until the Lunch Lady came. It was good, he asked for more. She happily obliged.
He was back up to a normal weight thanks to the lady. The deep maw in his core was lined with lunch meat.
The next to go was Shadow, then Kitty. It happened faster than it needed to be but it wasn’t filling. The Biker was next, he didn’t take it in stride like his lover did.
Slowly he consumed-the Writer. And consumed- the genie, the rockstar. And consumed- the computer, the counselor, the birds. Soon the King stood before him, he was awoken by ghosts who feared the great darkness. They believed he would stop it. He didn’t, he knelt and held out his crown. The boy wore the crown as he accepted his willing sacrifice. The old king felt blessed.
He didn’t leave the ghost zone anymore. He was their king. But the little humans tried to get him to go to their home. He would send the jailer for them. Or his dog. Or the Wulfman. They eventually stopped coming.
Eventually the first and last half breed came for him. He tried to fight. He wanted to be King. Nothing but the corpse was left behind. He sent it back to where it came from.
Soon a man of time appeared before him. Danny wanted to eat but he waited -His gardener was eaten- and waited -his knight too- and waited -his teacher-. Soon his kingdom was gone. He was left with his hunger.
The changing man returned again “See what greed brings you child,” he turned to leave and the kingdomless king lurched. He missed. So he waited with his hunger. His kingdom would return. He laid down to rest, sleep made the hunger bearable.
The cycle began again.