Our time in hell

The Devil's Palace

“WAKE UP!”

My eyes snap open. I quickly make sure my friends are still here and, thankfully, they are. Yawning and rubbing our eyes, we shift to where the booming voice came from.

It was another demon. It was too tall, so we couldn’t see its face, but we can see its body. Its flesh is peeling off its body, making a sickening aroma. Its fingers are webbed together like a frog’s.  I whip my head in the opposite direction of the monster. I would vomit, but I have nothing in my stomach. It growls loudly. I really need something to eat. The demon chuckles in amusement. It knows we’re hungry, but it just wanted to see us starve.

“Order up.”

The thing opened a little door in the wall and slid trays with food on them. After it slid the last one in, it closed the miniature door and stalked away.

We each greedily grab a tray and stare at the mysterious food. On the tray is a bowl of green broth, a loaf of stale bread, and a glass of water. I don’t trust the food. Neither do my friends.

“Should we eat it?” Matt asks.

Nobody answers because we’re all asking the same question.

I look around the room glumly. I wonder what it’ll feel like to die of starvation. It’s probably the worst way to go. Your body slowly eating at your fat until you’re just a walking corpse. It shocks me that I think like this, but staying in this cell is making it worse.

Suddenly, I hear movement in the corner. Cautiously, I move a little closer. I squint and make out a small figure and realize it’s a rat. An ugly one at that. Ohmigosh! I have an idea. Hope rises within me.

“Hey.” I say, excited. “Guys, watch this.”

I quietly walk over to the mouse with my tray. I set it down and put a tiny drop of the broth on my finger. I inch it to the rat and it sniffs it. Slowly but surely it starts to lick the broth. After it’s done, I wait a few minutes. If there was poison, it would already be dead.

I smile. “The broth is okay to eat guys.”

They smile with me. I hear praises all around.

“Good job!”

“Nice idea, Christina!”

Matt ruffles my hair and Alex and I did our handshake. We “established” it in 3rd grade. Even Leya gave me a nod of appreciation. I mean, it wasn’t a big deal, but everything means something lately.

I did the same method with the bread and water. The bread passed, but when I gave the water to the rat, it froze.  The rat’s body jerked and then I knew it was no longer apart of this world. I felt sympathy for the little guy. But you gotta do, what you gotta do, as my grandma always says. I mean, it’s just a rat.

“Don’t drink the water!” I warn.

My friends nod and dump their glasses on the floor.

We eat in happy silence. I would have never ate this stuff before, but right now it tatses like heaven.  I lick the bowl clean and sit up against the wall, satisfied. Alex walks over and sits beside me. I try to act normal.

“Hey, that was a really good idea, Christina.”

I blush. “Thanks. It was no biggie.”

Suddenly, he stares into my eyes. I stare into his. This moment wasn’t awkward. In fact, it was pretty nice. He leaned closer to me.  My heart skips a beat. We were face to face. I take a little side glance to Leya and see that she’s sleeping. Matt and Sally are focused in a game of Sticks. I then look at Alex’s full lips. I am REALLY tempted to kiss them right now. Unfortunately, instead of kissing me, he whispered in my ear: