The happy family

Hey, I'm hungry. Can I eat you?

You're annoying.

Please, you look so delicious!

No, why would I let you?

I guess I have no other choice.

I'm lying in my bed on my stomach, reading some comic.

Sib leaves my view. It must have given up.

But suddenly I feel something warm and wet at my foot.
Sib must be licking it.

Yeah, really delicious.

I kick its face and it runs away.

I doubt my stinky feet are delicious to you!

Before I finished my sentence, it already left my room.

I continue reading my comic.
It's about a society of children. They sometimes get attacked by adults. And then some of the children have to fight the adults and then they get eaten instead.

Of course that's unrealistic. Nobody would eat adults.
But it's still funny. Some parts aren't too far away from reality.
When you're still young you might think, adults are evil.
But of course they are not.
They are the ones who gave us life, so they are also allowed to take our lives again.

Besides that, my siblings have been delicious so far, so I can't blame them.
But I wouldn't kill them myself just to eat them.
And I also don't just want to be eaten by sib.

Suddenly mom comes in.

Hey, cutie. What about having meat again?

Oh, that would be great. Did you get a whole lepin, or only some parts?

No, I just thought we could have your sib. It's pretty annoying today.

I didn't expect that.
It just teased me about eating me, and now I'll be the one eating it instead...

Is it really neccessary? It can be annoying. But I still like it, so no need to eat it, right?

We have too many kids anyway. It's already six I guess.
Or how many siblings do you have?

Yeah, should be six. So counting me already seven.

Right.
And self raised children are more delicious than these cheap industry lepin.
Even if we probably get two or three of them for one of our own, I'd like to eat one of you.

Yeah, I get it. We're your children, so we're much better.

So would you help me prepare it?

I never prepared one of my siblings.
But it should be just the same as preparing a bought lepin.

Yeah, it's no difference.
And it also knows how it's done, so you might not have to do a lot.

Yeah, that's true.

I follow mom to the kitchen, where sib is already waiting.

I'll leave it to you. Call me if you need help.

Sure, thanks mom.

Hey, sib! Looks like I'll be the one to be eaten today.
I hope you'll like me.

I didn't even prepare you yet.
And to be honest I don't want to eat you.
Even if you can be annoying, I still kind of like you.

Don't worry.
You still have at least three other sibs.
And I'm sure mom will produce new ones soon anyway.

Yeah, but...

I never killed one of my siblings.
I know they are delicious, but killing them myself just feels wrong.
If somebody else did it, sib would just be gone and that's it.
But if I have to do it myself, I'll be responsible for it missing.
I'll always remember where they went.

If I could switch places with sib, I would do it.
But mom wouldn't be happy about that.
On the other hand I'm one of the older ones, too. Even older than sib.
So I'll probably be next anyway.

I thought, I wouldn't mind being eaten by my family, but to be honest it's not a huge difference if I or a family member gets eaten.
Do I really want to live in such a place?

Even if the comic I've read is just meant to be some kind of childish fantasy, maybe it has a deeper meaning?
Maybe adults are actually the evil ones?

What are you waiting for?
Do you need some help?

Oh, sorry, I was just thinking.

I can't just question my whole life just because of some stupid comic.
I'll just prepare sib, and then we'll have a great family dinner.

So I just wash it, then remove its limbs and then its head as long as it's still conscious.

Then it's basically dead, so I cut the five body parts in small pieces and remove the bones and the organs.
The organs will be used later for some special meals, but for now I make some kind of soup with all the meat.

After I finished, I call mom and she tastes it.

Oh, that's delicious. Maybe we should make a larger portion. I'm really hungry now.
Let me prepare you next.

I think it's enough for one day.
I wouldn't risk ruining it by making more.

Yeah, you're right. I also doubt I would be able to make something as good as this myself.
But what if we use another one of your siblings instead, so you can cook again? I'm sure they would taste just as great, right?

I hope so. If you want, I can make another one.
But I think this will be enough for multiple days already.
And after that I probably don't want meat for a while.
So let's rather wait until we're in the mood again before I cook another one, okay?

Yeah, you have a point.
Then let's just eat this for now.

Mom carries the pot onto the set table and my siblings immediately come in.
Most of them haven't helped cooking yet, so they probably can't imagine how this actually looks.
Only one or two of my five remaining sibs I think.

But I don't want to ruin it for them.
So we all start eating.
I also eat and it's delicious. But one small portion is enough for me for today.

After that I have to think about the sib I killed.
My sib was annoying, but it could also be pretty funny.
I liked to spend time with it.

It would make sense to spend time with my remaining siblings as long as we're still alive, but everything suddenly feels pretty pointless. I don't understand why.

After a while another one of my siblings gets eaten.
I don't participate in the meal, but everybody else seems to have fun.
What's wrong with me? Am I the only person who isn't suitable for this society anymore?

Not long afterwards, my mom wants me to cook another sibling.
By the way, it seems like she's already pregnant again.

I do as she said. I just kill my cute little sibling.
It always wanted to become a mom itself.
But now that won't happen anymore.

When it is prepared, dad comes in and carries the meal to the table.

But nobody else is there.

If you eat all this, you should become an adult, too.
You're pretty smart, aren't you?
I'm sure you'll be a great parent.

I'm supposed to eat the sibling I just killed myself?
No, I can't eat that much. I don't want to eat its at all.

But... I put so much effort into preparing it.
I wanted mom and my siblings to get some, too.
And you of course, dad.

I guess half of it should be enough, too.
Then could you please gather everybody else?

Sure.

I leave the room and tell my siblings that it's time to eat.
Then I go outside.

Lupin might be hunting for us out there.
But I don't care. I just can't. I don't want to become a child eating adult myself.

I don't even know what to do.
I just sit down on a rock.

Suddenly some other lepin appears.

Hey, what are you doing here alone?

I'm not sure what to say.
It's probably not smart to talk about my weird problems to a stranger.
But I can't hold back and tell it everything.

I've just been listening to you while you were talking to your dad.
If I understand it correctly, you are perfect as the first member for my alliance.

Your alliance?

You realized that we're being oppressed by the lupin, right?
What if we could live in a society without lupin?
Only lepin? We're a species on our own. And lupin are just mutations, who shouldn't exist.
It won't be easy. We might have to sacrifice a lot. But this way we can save all the lepin.

It feels like this lepin just told me exactly what I wanted to hear.
It was able to put my vague feelings into concrete words.
If I join this lepin, I'll soon be some kind of hero myself.
I always thought, ideas like this were just a stupid fantasy. But somebody else came to the same conclusions. Maybe it's actually true. We will fight the adults and save the children.

I'm in! I'll do whatever you want from me.
But can you help me save my siblings first?

Your siblings still live with your parents, right?

Yeah...

Then help me recruit new members first.
Only two of us can't win against two lupin.
Especially if your siblings still believe in the system.
It's not easy to persuade somebody. I tried it many times.
So they won't help us, and even if we kill your parents, they will be our enemies.

I understand its point. I guess it is right.
We can't just fight my parents. But even if we can't free my siblings now, even if we can't save all of them, maybe none of them, good preparation will be worth it.
In the end it's not just about them.
We might be able to free every lepin on the planet.

So after getting to know each other a little better, we both walk away together.
That's really weird. I just gave up my relaxing life with my family.
But I'm looking forward to see how much we can accomplish together.