‘These two just love it to bits, would you like some honey’?

Cajoled Carlson as she drew one long stick of the delicacy to an astonished Preesha. She bit it once, twice and thirdly pushed the last bit of it down her throat. Never in her life had she ever tasted something so dry, lean and tenderly crispy like the Carlson’s strips she had just devoured. Had absolutely no idea if it was or wasn’t Halaal. It probably did not matter. By the time she had finished, they were all long gone in sleep. Desperately wanting sleep, she finally laid on the cushioned pillows gazing at the cornices and ceiling to digest all that transpired for day yet the worst was yet to come. The lights started fading slowly… finally going off. She immediately woke up and went for the windows. Right ahead was a substation and a dome.

Everywhere had been so dark only the two buildings had some sort of lighting. Sudden bangs and toils of steel bars meshing together could be heard from the two buildings. It propably had been the one feeding the entire village. Was there load shedding at the tiny village too? There was only one way to find out. In stealth and silence, she came to open the large aluminium windows and carefully leaped out to the ground. It was by grace that her her room had been on the first floor.

Crawling all the way to the inside of the premises and into one large chamber where a strong stench of burning matter flooded her nostrils. It was awfully despicable. At the center was a huge machine that kept spinning like a cement mixer. Curiosity driving her closer and closer to it. The machine kept churning masses of matter, conveying it to an enormous pit of fire while sorting and separating some pieces to the sides. Later conveying the product to the near dome.

‘What are you doing out here?’

Said a voice amidst the frightening dark. It sounded so much like Kelly’s. How had she knew where Preesha had been. That too so quick. Three sets of eyes loomed from where the lushy voice came from.