Burning - Freewrite

Well I haven't done a freewrite in a long time so let's see how this goes.

Burning.

Source: Pixabay.com

There were more than a few of us eagerly crouched around the loud crackling fire.

It had been a particularly cold winter. No one could afford a jacket around here. We sat on half cut lumber, arms clenched tightly to chests, shaking like leaves in a burning forest.

It was Paul who told the first Tale.

We didn't even have the concept then. I guess he started it all.

The person who told the best Tale would get to eat dinner for a week.

There had been 40 of us at the beginning, before the Tales.

There was no food left in the reserves.

Cannibalism was a new concept to most of us.

Did it hurt?

Not according to Paul's Tale.

But then again..... he was hungry.

We all were.

Some lucky few would eat.