the golden rule

While waiting for the bell to ring, I decide to eat somebody.

I pick Jenny.

Come with me Jenny, I say. I have to show you something.

What? she says.

It's something special, I say, like a buried treasure.

She turns away, uninterested.

I go to the front of the classroom and pick up a yard stick. Walking back to Jenny's desk, her eyes are now big. I poke her once in the stomach and twice in the face, just below her eyes.

Owe, she says.

Let's go find that treasure now, I suggest.

Jenny looks around. No one seems to be paying attention to us. Okay, she says.

I take her to the closet and remove her clothes.

She doesn't say a word.

I begin eating her. I start with her legs and work my way up. When I reach her neck, her eyes finally close. There's blood everywhere. After I eat the last bits of skull, I let my stomach settle for a few minutes, then I immediately clean myself up and change my clothes with the extra pair I keep in my locker.

I return to class.

The bell finally rings, and the teacher enters.

Instead of taking roll, she goes to her seat, turning away from us. She doesn't speak. Finally, after a few moments of silence she turns around. Class, she says, I'm afraid you're all going to have to go home.

Everyone, including me, is stunned.

But why? someone asks.

I can't say, she says. Just follow me, single file.

We follow her and she leads us to the front of the school. There's a group of men standing by the janitor's closet, and I see the janitor handcuffed, sitting on the ground down the hall.

What happened? somebody asks.

Keep quiet, the teacher says.

There's a row of buses outside the school, waiting to take us home.

Upon getting on a bus, I burp then look around.

Who's next? I ask, grinning. Jenny was just a snack.

No one seems to hear.

I sit down and, as the bus starts moving, I walk to the back and eat three kids sitting in the back row -- Carl, Danny, and Lee. I don't stop there. I make my way back to the front of the bus, eating kids, row by row. When I get to the front, I eat the bus driver. I stop the bus, get out, and start eating everybody I see.

Men, women, children. Whatever.

After eating the 76th person of the day, I decide to take a nap. When I wake up, I'm back in the classroom waiting for the bell to ring. Turning around, I see Jenny again with her bright blue eyes.

Come with me, I say.

No, she shouts. Last time, you took me to the closet and ate me.

I won't this time, I promise.

She stares at me for some time, looking into my eyes.

Please, I say.

She gets up and I take her to the closet and take off her clothes and start gnawing on her toes.

Hey! she shouts. Start with my head this time. My feet are ticklish.