Yang Ming opened his eyes.
It was another day of the famine. He was able to count his ribs, now.
It was a dark day, yet bright compared to the days to come.
He could hear his parents yelling downstairs, complaining about the food sources.
They'd killed the pet cat a week ago, rationing it as jerky. It had almost been all eaten. There had been no crops grown, and no other animals could be found.
The other villagers had gained recently a rather scary look in their eyes. They were mad with hunger. Everyone was mad, here.
He wondered why nobody left. Many people had disappeared, but surely they would have left a note? Perhaps they had gone and died in the forest.
Yet, from what? Even that was barren now. The tree bark had been stripped and eaten, the somewhat edible leaves picked clean.
Yang Ming shook his head. He had to keep his mind bright, to at least support his meimei. He was scared of letting her go out alone, now, with the fearsome gazes of the others.
Even his parents were rather untrustworthy.
He decided resolutely to leave the village. But where would they go? What if everywhere was in famine? What if the whole world was unsafe?
He resolution wavered.
No. it would be safer, for now, to stay at home. He'd be able to keep Yang Niuniu safer here. But what could they do? Without food, the entire world seemed dangerous.
There was no food here though. The days would only grow grimmer and grimmer.
No.
Staying here would be a fool's errand. He had to leave.
He turns to his meimei.
"Niuniu... Do you want to go and play with me?"
She nodded, hesitant.
He couldn't blame her. The current state of the rest of the villagers must be very frightening to a young girl like her.
"We're gonna go on a field trip!"
What's a field trip? But that wasn't important, he had to get Niuniu out of there, now.
He took her by the hand, and they walked out together.
"Ah'MA! BABA! WE'RE GOING OUT TO PLAY!" He yelled.
The villagers looked at them funny. He snarled at them, baring his teeth and claws.
He didn't have claws. Why would he, he's a human after all!
They walked through the tall grass fields together. There was nothing to be afraid of. All the bugs and frogs and snakes were dead and gone, nothing to hold them back in the stupid backwater village.
Once they'd gotten rather far, his meimei looked at him, with a small frown.
"Gege," She whispered. "I can't see if you're good or not if you leave now".
"Gege," She whispered, "It's time to go home."
Yang Niuniu was a fool, he thought. Wanting to go home when it seemed so unsafe? What was
the difference between dying of starvation on the road to freedom and dying of starvation in a
place where their bones would be picked clean, not by crows?
"Gege," Her voice was morose. He ignored her, and kept walking. SHe was heavy, but nothing
was heavier than the weight of the responsibility of getting her to safety. "Gege, we need to go
back."
"Why?" He finally responded. His voice wavered. "They'll eat you."
"They'll eat you up and hurt you"
"But I need to know, gege."
Why? Why? Why would she hurt herself like that?
"I can't let you get hurt."
"But I need to know what you think of two legged sheep, gege."
Yang Ming closed his eyes.
Yang Ming opened his eyes.
Yang Ming opened his eyes.
Yang Ming opened his eyes.
Yang Ming opened his eyes.
Yang Ming opened his eyes.
Yang Ming opened his eyes.
Yang Ming opened his eyes.
He'd had another strange dream. He had many these days. The days blended into one another. He always had half-baked fantasies of running away, and living his life. He'd had many fever dreams, where he'd been sure he had left with his sister.
They always ended and started with him opening his eyes.
It was another day of the famine. He was able to count his ribs, now. His stomach was sunken in, and every moment of living was torture.
It was a dark day. He couldn't think of how it could get worse.
He could hear his parents yelling downstairs, complaining about the food sources. They did that every day, now. He was envious of their energy. They'd been eating the scraps of meat the village chief had been giving around. Yang Ming hadn't eaten it, though. It smelt rotten.
He hoped his parents wouldn't have eaten the meat if they still had the jerky.
They'd killed the pet cat over a month ago, rationing it as jerky. It was all gone now, though.
There had been no crops grown, and no other animals could be found.
The other villagers had a rather scary look in their eyes. They were mad with hunger. Everyone was mad, here. Mad and mad and mad and mad.
Many people had disappeared.
Nobody knew where they had gone.
Everybody knew where they had gone.
Into the stomachs of their mothers and fathers and brothers and husbands.
Never the sisters.
The sisters were those that were gone.
He had toughed it out, though.
He had given his food to his sister, all of it. He didn't want her to eat the strange meat, but it was better than her dying. Instead, he had eaten mud. He had eaten steel. He didn't' question how he could eat it and live, but he could only wish that Niuniu could as well.
He lied in bed.
He rotted for a long time. so much of him was itching to leave. To run and fight. But there was nothing he could do.
He had to stay in the village.
Why did he have to stay in the village?
Couldn't he just leave-
No.
He had to stay in the village.
He went to the kitchen.
His parents were crowded around a thin strip of meat.
Yang Ming's eyebrows furrowed.
"A'Niang, Baba, where did this come from?"
They looked at him, a sweet smile on their lips.
"It was a reward! We got a reward. The b--- next door had tried to leave. she was a traitor. She
was a ghost in human skin." His mother exclaimed. She had never liked the woman next door.
The woman had clearly been smart, wanting to leave.
His father chimed in. "Yes, yes, yes. We reported her, see? and the village chief rewarded us.
Son, we won't be hungry tonight. You, me, your mother. We shan't be hungry tonight."
Yang Ming frowned.
"What about Niuniu?"
His mother shushed him.
"Don't worry, we will have fresh meat again, tomorrow."
Yang Ming didn't like this. It was bad.
It was a horrible, horrible thing.
He left, and returned upstairs.
He slept through the night, after a full day of trying to find his sister. He had only been pacified after his father had said she was over with A'Sang. She'd be safe with A'Sang. A'Sang's brother was big, and strong. He was righteous.
He hoped.