Rice

No Filling

He had trouble finding a place to sleep. The only property he owned was in his backpack. It contained a flashlight running out of batteries, a map of all the highways in the United States, clothes, and a bag of gummies. The gummies were the best. He chewed them like bubblegum and would always try to make them last.

Kyle can remember what it was like in the past. Just only a year ago he was living a satisfying life in the suburbs. There were no bridges, no foreigners, and no deaths. He sometimes wonders if living ignorant was better than the way he’s living now. No, he thought, it’s not worth it.
Kyle has seen people sacrificing many things to live the way he used to. He couldn’t imagine it and especially now that he has no home. Even now, he isn't wallowing in sadness. He wasn’t a person to be disappointed in life, when he lost his home and his family, and they were things that he would overcome.

It felt almost easy to escape from that kind of world. Simple instructions in the internet helped him realize the secrets of the outer world, or at least some of them. Kyle was usually kept indoors, but on some days his parents allowed him to be supervised. He went to normal places, like movie theaters and skate parks. That’s where he found blissed quietness. He wanted to stay there forever.
One problem was that he couldn’t live in a park. His parents wouldn't allow him no matter how many times he begged. The obvious thing was that he ran away.

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There was something about touring the world that interested him. He has never left the country, half because he has no money and the other half because his parents didn’t let him. He remember that Sage wanted his help and then she refused when he agreed. Maybe she was mad at him, though he doesn't know why.

He suspects she isn't far from where he is. It looked like Sage knew much about the area and she is probably lost. Kyle decided to go look for her. If he asked around, maybe they would know who she was. Sage did look odd from a normal person’s perspective. She wore an old dress from a different century and her hair was an unnatural color. It was getting more common to have strange hair colors, but not in this area. He never say anyone dressing like her. She could possibly be telling the truth about her age, or she could have gotten the clothes from somewhere. He still didn’t believe her. Sage was different and he believed she was wanted something from him.
She had also said something weird before. She asked how long death had watched him move.
Kyle didn’t understand what she meant back then, but now he thinks Sage saw the floating figure.

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Sage threw up. She had found out the reason why no one ate bland people. They tasted even worse than she imagined. She had the trouble getting the taste out of her mouth. Human food didn’t exactly go in the same way. The souls she eats are fuel to her own. They were absorbed just the way a cloud sucked water. The dried out soul will eventually pour out of her and then she will eat another.
That was what was supposed to happen, but the tasteless soul wouldn’t leave her system. She lied on someone’s yard for hours until a human, most likely the owner, told her to get off his property. No one was around to see that she ate him. He lasted only a few minutes inside her.
She never remembered having felt this way before. She’s been poisoned and even almost burned alive, but she hasn’t experienced this feeling. Her insides were uncomfortably hot and her sight was blurry. She suspected that her artificial body wouldn’t be able to handle it anymore.
Sage decided to leave the town. Whenever she saw someone that looked like the man she ate, she would gag.

The body was getting frail and she was struggling to move it. One person saw her lying on a bench. The child was no older than ten. He poked her with a stick. She opened her eyes and he jumped away. “Hi, there, lady.”

Naturally, Sage didn’t understand what he said. “What do you want, piece of meat?”

“How come you’re sleeping outside?”

“You’re lucky I’m not hungry or I would eat you.”

A woman, his mother most likely, called out to him. He waved goodbye and said, “Bye, lady.”

She muttered to herself, “I'm leaving.”