11:11 PM. Salem, Oregon. Umi’s Living Room.
The new table glowed. White surface. Blue rim.
4 chairs for them.
And a 5th chair scraping forward by itself.
Black smoke poured into it.
Took shape.
Tall. No face. Just a mouth.
The Hunger.
"Nice table," it said. Voice like 100 people whispering. "Mind if I sit?"
It sat. The 5th chair.
The table didn’t break.
Umi stepped forward. "This is our table now.
You eat here only if we invite you."
The Hunger laughed. _"Invite? I don’t need invites.
I eat. That’s what I do."_
It reached for the blank book in the middle.
The book snapped shut. Burned its hand.
The Hunger hissed. "What... what is this?"
Miri: "Authors’ Table. Rule 1: No eating without permission."
Alex: "Rule 2: We write the menu."
Fritz: "Rule 3: 10/10 you’re not the host anymore."
The Hunger leaned back. _"Cute. You built a cage.
Let’s see how long it holds."_
It slammed its fist on the table.
The table shook. But held.
New writing appeared on the table itself:
_Course 1: The First Meal.
The Hunger chooses.
The Authors cook._
A plate appeared in front of The Hunger. Empty.
"I’m hungry," it said. _"Feed me a story.
If I like it, I leave for 1 year.
If I don’t... I take the table."_
Umi: "One story? For all of us?"
The Hunger: "One story. Together."
Silence.
Fritz: "Okay so we can’t do 4 separate sad stories.
It’ll eat that."
Miri: "We need one story. With all of us in it."
Alex: "And it has to have an ending it can’t eat."
Umi opened the blank book. Pen in hand.
"Then we write it. Now."
They gathered around.
Umi wrote: Once there were 4 authors who were scared.
Miri wrote: They lost things, but found each other.
Alex wrote: The monster tried to eat their memories.
Fritz wrote: So they remembered louder. Together.
All 4 together: _And the monster got full on loneliness.
But the authors were never lonely again.
The End._
They closed the book. Put it on the plate.
The Hunger stared at it. Picked it up.
Ate it. In one bite.
Silence. 10 seconds.
The Hunger burped. Black smoke.
"...That was awful," it said. "Too much hope. Gives me heartburn."
It stood up. The 5th chair disappeared.
_"Fine. 1 year. But I’ll be back.
And next time, I’m bringing friends."_
It dissolved into smoke and was gone.
The table stayed.
The book on the table now had a title:
The Authors’ Table - Volume 1
On the cover: 4 names. Umi. Miri. Alex. Fritz.