One day, the four children overheard the orphanage director talking and they heard something that struck the fear if God into them. "The electricity for the televisions is getting to expensive. Get rid of them". The director said, unaware that the smiling children could understand what she was saying, despite never being taught to speak themselves. The children looked at each other, panic flashing in each of their eyes. What would they do without the magic box? It gave them kind words, light, something to watch other than the other children walking back and forth. Wordlessly, they formed a plan together: they would hide the televisions, somehow. They had to. They just had to. That nigh, after the carers had all left, they got out of their cots. All the children slept in the same room, locked inside a long concrete tunnel with no windows. The only difference between day and night was that at night the carers weren't there. Ignoring the hums and the cries of the other children, Polina, Donka, Towotei and Lala slowly pulled the four televisions off the shelves: now all they had to do was hide the magic boxes. But that was the problem- there was nowhere to hide them. The children looked at each other distressed and scared. They couldn't even climb out of the window to freedom ( they were too weak and the window was too far). But then, Donka had an idea, he looked at the others knowingly and put his stick-thin green-tinted fingers in his mouth. Of course. The only place the children could ever hide something from the other bigger, stronger, older children was within. They had all hidden toys by swallowing them and choking them up later. It was disgusting, but they lived in a disgusting place. The televisions were small enough to fit their stomach, but they were too big to eat...
The next day, a horrific sight met the carers: the room had a heavy stench of blood, all the children were crying and moaning as usual, all but four. In the middle of the room layed Polina, Donka, Lala and Towotei; they'd each clawed out their own stomach, the blood-stained televisions sat inside their ripped out bellies, their intestines, kidneys and other vital organs spilled out onto the grey filthy floor, staining it red. Flies buzzed around the room, landing on the organs and laying their eggs in them. Their hands were all covered in blood. Under their finger nails bits of flesh were stuck. The children's eyes were rolled back, unblinking even when flies landed on them. Their faces were still put into a smile. That permanent SMILE.
