The Kids Are Cannibals [On Hiatus - See Desc]

Chapter 6

It's about ten minutes past 7pm, and I'm sitting in the old shack. An abandoned looking tree house near the woods beside Swan park. Looking out the window I can see out in the woods, that looks scary at this dark hour. A wired fence stands tall between the park and the woods, but I bet you could jump it from this tree. If I weren't afraid of heights, I remember, as I quickly look away from the window, and back into the old but cosy shack, that makes me forget it is so far above the ground. I was almost about to get up and leave, when I finally hear the familiar creaking of the old wooden ladder being used. The familiar, but unpleasant face of Beatrice soon appears in the doorway, and her face lights up upon seeing me.

"I had almost thought you wouldn't come" she states, as she sits across from me, crossing her legs, and laying a small hotpot between us. The strong smell of roast fills my nostrils and I salivate.

"Why did you want to see me?" I ask. Unsure whether or not to keep up an act or not.

"I just wanted to be friends with you" She says, as she opens the lid of the pot. "And I wanted to share my dinner with somebody" she smiles brightly.

"Don't you have your family to eat with?" I ask her.

She scratches the back of her neck nervously, but I can't tell if it's an act or not. "Well, they don't really seem to like my cooking" she says sadly "I was hoping you might appreciate it?"

"No thanks" it looks delicious, but I'm afraid it could be poisoned. She takes a big bite of the meat, that looks like it's possibly turkey? And with a full mouth she says "It's not poison if that's what you think".

I sigh out loud. "Look, I'm sorry if I come across as rude, I just had some personal traumatic things go on in my past, that makes it hard for me to trust people new in town. Maybe if I knew more about you?" I say (more lies).

She nods as she swallows a mouthful "Well, I guess my story is a long one, but I'll make it short" she starts "I was born and raised in Germany, until I was about seven years old, when my house burnt down with my family in it. I was moved around a bit, until I ended up living with my Mum's sister, in Queensland, Australia, I think that was around three years ago now.."

" Anyway, she took me in for a while, but couldn't afford to continue raising me and so, after less than two years, I moved in with my new family at the farm, just a short distance from Town, and I lived with them for about a year, or just over that, before making the decision to go to a proper school, and experience life like a normal kid again. And that's how I ended up here."

A sob story. A simple tactic to get people to let their guards down. I'm not sure I believe what she says, but, at the same time, there is that 'logical' argument in my brain, telling me that I am being ridiculous, that this isn't some kind of fiction, that I am being paranoid, and only an awful person would feel no empathy for a poor orphaned girl after the story she told (which, I have given her no reason to trust me with such a vulnerable thing- and I oughta feel grateful or something). But I can't help but question her story, still. "If you have been so close to Grizzlyfield for all this time, how come you never visited until now?" I ask her. "Well, how come you never visited the farm?" She asks. When I don't respond, she continues. "The parents homeschooled me and my new siblings, it just made sense, really, instead of getting a bunch of young kids to walk over an hour to school every day. The ute wouldn't get us there much quicker either. I just volunteered because I felt I was finally settling in, and wanted to experience having friends, meeting new people, and just being normal, again. I did visit Grizzlyfield a few times, just to explore, while I was deciding whether to join the school or not, but it's not that odd that you'd missed me. I'm just one little girl, after all." She explains.

"So why were you hiding behind that shrub-"

"-hiding? I was exploring, I've just told you. Although I have to wonder what you were doing under that car?" She questions, placing her hand on her chin, as if deep in thought. I grit my teeth at the obvious threat.