11:11 PM. The Same Room. 4 Different Cities.
The chains were burning their wrists.
4 authors. 4 shadows. 1 table.
Black smoke came out of the plates in the middle.
And the smoke took shape.
Umi’s plate: Lila. Age 7. Holding a sketchbook.
Miri’s plate: Her mom. Walking into the kitchen singing.
Alex’s plate: Elias. Breaking his guitar at their first practice, laughing.
Fritz’s plate: Noah. Taking his first bat photo.
The Hunger spoke:
_"Course 1: Serve.
We serve you your best memory.
You have 2 choices.
1. Eat it. Forget it forever. We get full.
2. Refuse. We take someone else’s instead."_
Shadow-Umi smiled. _"Choose, Umi.
Either forget the day Lila drew you as a hero.
Or we take Noah’s first bat photo from Fritz."_
Shadow-Miri _"Forget your mom’s last song.
Or we take Elias’s laugh from Alex."_
Shadow-Alex _"Forget the first time you played for fun.
Or we take Lila’s drawing from Umi."_
Shadow-Fritz _"Forget your mom’s bat in the window.
Or we take Theo’s jazz from Miri."_
The chains tightened.
Umi: "It’s a loop."
Miri: "If we refuse, someone else loses."
Alex: "If we accept, we lose ourselves."
Fritz: "Classic. 0/10 would not play again."
The Hunger: "Choose."
1 minute.
Silence.
Umi spoke first. "No."
She grabbed a knife. Cut the smoke on her plate.
The smoke screamed and scattered.
Lila’s image disappeared.
Miri pressed imaginary piano keys. "No for me too."
Her mom’s image scattered.
Alex air-guitared. "Nope."
Elias’s image scattered.
Fritz raised his camera. Flash. "Pass."
Noah’s image scattered.
All 4 plates cracked.
The Hunger roared: "YOU REFUSED?!"
Umi: "Yes. Because remembering works by sharing.
If we eat alone, it ends. If we hold it together, it grows."
All 4 authors pulled out their book pieces at the same time.
The 4 pieces merged in the air. One book.
New writing:
_Authors chose to share the pain.
The Hunger cannot eat what is shared._
The chains loosened.
Shadow-Umi hissed: "That’s not how this works."
Shadow-Miri: "You’re supposed to break."
Shadow-Alex: "You’re supposed to be selfish."
Shadow-Fritz: "Rude."
The Hunger: _"Fine. Course 1: FAILED.
Course 2: The Table Eats."_
The table shook. And a piece broke off the edge.
And started eating itself.