01

The ground was harsh and unforgiving against his knees and the hardened dirt rough under his hands as he waited for the world to stop spinning. Deep in the pit of his stomach, a hunger had arisen, and just as he had always done, he had denied it.

How long had this thing been inside him? Months, at least. And every single day, the hunger grew stronger as the creature became more desperate. And every single day, he squashed down the hunger, clenched his jaw, and refused to feed it.

Not again. Not after that time. Never again.

But it was becoming increasingly difficult to keep the monster at bay. The hunger was too deep - and it only ever got worse. The pain - the ravenous protest twisting his intestines - was beginning to take a terrible toll on him.

If it had only been his body, he might have persevered. He might have pushed through. It would die. It had to. Sooner or later.

If it just so happened to take his own death in order to kill it, then so be it. He would be doing everyone a favour.

Only, it wasn't just his body that was being punished. Not only his body that was railing against him. Now - now, it was his mind.

He gasped for air, eyes closed shut as the world around him lurched this way and that. It would be so easy to make it go away.

So easy to sate the hunger.

All it would take - all it would need --

No! Not even that. He couldn't allow it. He couldn't. He couldn't. He couldn't. He couldn't.

Again and again, he repeated the mantra to himself. Again and again, he reminded himself of all there was to lose. All that stood between the monster and a massacre.

His will.

His hands clawed against the barren earth.

His will was feeling paper thin these days.

 

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Sometimes I write snippets and share them. If you enjoyed this one, there's many more where that came from! You can also check out my short stories, read my solarpunk thriller Murder in Heliopolis, or grab a copy of my eerie suspense novella Apartment.