Hungry
We were all hungry. I couldn’t stand the hollow look in the masses of eyes. I could just run out there and steal what is ours, what isn’t in use. No one owns anything out here - not really. I closed the door behind me with a bang. Everyone jumped a little in their sleep, but groans and murmurs continued, stomachs growling with rage. I couldn’t stand that sound.
The land was flatter than anything I’ve ever seen; I could see past the barrenness into space if I wanted to. But, what I needed to see was the Older Sister’s house. The light slowly glowing from her one window, but she wasn’t there. Not at this time of night. Not when the other Elders needed help getting into bed. She was so sacrilegious…it made all of us sick. Kindness wasn’t something we were used to.
Analise called to me. I could hear her through the screen. I looked over my shoulder into her pale face. The mesh netting of the window made distinct marks on her skin, crosses and graphing illuminated by the moonlight. It was a full moon.
“Kris,” her voice squeaked out. She was only nine. The youngest of us all and I found myself drawn to her, protecting her against the chill of the wind pounding on the metal of our home. Or the thunders of a huge storm like the ones that formed out of no where. We got them rarely, but they were enough to shake the thin bones of our bodies and emit fear in the oldest among us. She always slept in my sleeping bag when we had those storms. I remembered the soft warmth of her skin radiating off of her and I wasn’t so afraid.
“What is it?” I whispered, though no one could hear me through the escalating sound of the wind.
“Don’t do it,” she murmured in her clear voice, the very sound of innocence, I always thought.
I just gave her a reassuring smile.
“It’s okay,” I cooed. I felt like my voice always softer immeasurably when I was around her. The hardness everyone else noted in me dissolved in her presence.
“No,” she answered me in defiance. She also had the power to see right through me.