“Hunger”

I’m lying here and feeling hunger pains.

I don’t know how long it has been since we have eaten.

I hear my stomach growl once again, and my teeth ache all through my mouth.

I’m tired of feeling hungry all the time.

These people should feed us more often than they do.

We deserve better, my roommate and I.

She used to lie over there and just cry.

I haven’t heard any tears falling in a while.

But she’s still in her bed with her back towards me.

I guess she’s not up for talking or anything.

But I’m hungry and I know that she must be,

So I climb from my bed to go over and see. 

I find that she is bleeding from a big hole in her stomach. 

I call out for help,

But they just say, “Shut up, food’s coming!”

Ow, how my back hurts as if it could break,

And I’m still waiting on this place to tend to my toothaches.

My hunger sends me into convulsions again. 

I’m on the floor on all fours, and my hunger becomes insatiable.

I crawl over to my roommate and take a look,

And then quickly shove my face deep into her gut,

Where I eat until my hunger passes. 

My body changes and I’m me again.

At that moment, the door opens, and two trays are slid inside.

Both contain a bowl of porridge.

I take the bowls and flush the contents down the commode, knowing that the Headmaster will only check for empty bowls.

I return the bowls to the tray and line the trays up by the door.

The Headmaster takes the trays, checks nothing else, does nothing more.

I, of course, am now tucked in tightly in my bed.

I was tucked in by my roommate, naturally.

She is such a good friend to me, but only at night.

Because come tomorrow morning’s light,

she’ll ignore me again,

as our hunger pains set in.