[Silence. A single, flickering carnival light. The sound of wind through canvas. The Maw's voice — quiet, tired, no processing. Just a voice.]
---
[The Maw:]
"You ever get tired? Of the lights? The screams? The endless, gnawing hunger that sits in your chest like a second heart that only beats when they're watching?"
[A long pause. A match strikes. A cigarette being lit. Exhale.]
"I do. Sometimes. At night. When the tents are empty. When the sawdust settles. When the last scream fades into the wind and it's just me. Just the quiet. Just the thing I am when no one's looking."
---
[Footsteps on creaking wood. A tent flap rustling.]
"They think I'm the monster. They think I'm the teeth. They think I'm the reason they can't leave. They're wrong. I'm not the cage. I'm the cage door. The one that doesn't lock. The one that swings open any time they want. They just… never want. They stay. They always stay. And they tell themselves it's me. That I'm the hunger. That I'm the pull. That I'm the reason they can't walk away."
[A low, bitter laugh.]
"I'm not the reason. I'm just the mirror. I just show them what they already are. What they already wanted. What they already came here to find."
---
[The light flickers. Wind picks up. His voice drops lower.]
"Do you know what it's like? To be hungry? Not for food. Not for blood. For something else. Something you can't name. Something that sits in your chest and whispers 'more, more, more' even when you're full. Even when you're tired. Even when you want to stop."
[A pause. A shuddering breath.]
"I was hungry before the carnival. Before the tent. Before the lights. I was hungry when I was someone else. Someone with a name. Someone with a face. Someone who walked into a carnival once. A long time ago. And never walked out."
[Silence. The light goes out.]
"Now I'm the one they walk toward. Now I'm the one they never leave. Now I'm the hunger. And I'm still hungry. I'm always hungry."
---
[A match strikes again. The light returns. His voice, slowly rebuilding its showman's veneer:]
"But that's enough of that. The crowd is waiting. The lights need to go up. The screams need to start again. That's the deal. That's the ride. That's the thing that keeps me from being nothing."
[A long exhale.]
"NEXT ATTRACTION."
[Silence. A single, distorted carnival note. Fade.]
AsheTheHyena
