School Dinner Lady

School Dinner Lady

I've seen lunch ladies on tv. Students line up and have comical slop dumped on their trays by sourfaced grandmas and then maybe a little trumpet goes "whomp whomp waa" to really sell it. I've always had bagged lunches though. I guess its human nature to long for things you've never had. Even if popular opinion says there terrible.

"There's something wrong with these fries" Teddy said, pulling me out of my daydream.

"Taste fine to me" Morris spit from his french fry filled face. These are my friends.

"Whatever, hey we still doing that thing tonight? I'm gonna be pissed if I'm the only one who shows up." Teddy said.

"Yeah I'll be there" I respond and Morris nods his head. The thing he's referring to is our plan to sneak into the school once everyone's left. It was Teddy's idea although it didn't take much to convince us. Kids don't really need a reason to do something besides they're not suppose to. Though later I'd learn Teddy did have a motive. A very unhealthy one.

"This place should be empty by eleven. Let's meet up back there, just outside the lunch room. I'm going to put some tape on the back door so it won't latch. Hopefully no one will notice."

Well apparently it did go unnoticed since later that night the door pushed open without trouble. It was pretty surreal walking through the school at night. I wanted to check out homeroom, maybe look through Mr. Lagnester's desk but Teddy seemed driven towards the gym and wouldn't have any detours. Most of the school was lit by moonlight but the gym was windowless. We had no idea where the lightswitch was and I wasn't too keen on crossing that dark void but luckily Morris had brought a flashlight.

"Over here" Teddy said, moving towards the locker rooms.

"What, you forget your tidy whities" I joked. "Not mine" Teddy responded as he confidently strolled into the girl's locker room with Morris close behind him. Not mine? what the hell does that mean? I followed them in.

Morris was in the girl's showers carefully searching the area, maybe trying to catch a ghostly afterimage? Teddy was bent over fiddling with one of the lockers.

"Who's is that?" I asked "Michel's" Teddy mumbled back. "Oh Teddy, you can't be serious. That's creepy dude!" Teddy didn't even bother responding.

I really couldn't believe it. I turned to Morris for some support but his input was far from comforting. "If we're breaking into lockers we should get into Carl's and, like, cut a hole in the crotch of his shorts. That'd be hilarious!"

"Okay guys I'm, I'm gonna go. If you get caught, I wasn't here." I said as I backed out of the room. "Chicken! bwak" Morris cawed after me.

You think you know people! Ironically Morris's bawking kept me calm as I crossed the terrifyingly dark gym.

I was soon back at the lunch room thinking how awkward tomorrow was going to be when I had an idea. I decided to indulge in a little make-believe. It was silly but I've always wanted to do it.

I grabbed a tray and began sliding it down the empty lunch bar, pretending to put food on it. Some veggies, a piece of pie, a milk carton. When I reach the point where the lunch lady would dump out the days special I held out my tray expectedly, ready to pantomime something heavy hitting it. A ladle punched through the shadows. "Bonapetite" something chirped as it dumped a glob onto my tray.

I dropped it and ran for the exit. It was locked. I turned back hoping I was being pranked. That I didn't see what I thought I did, but there it was. A lady was behind the lunch counter, and the rest of here was pouring endlessly over it.

I raced for the main hallway hoping to escape further into the building but she pooled herself around my legs and dragged me to a table. "Now young man, you're not leaving here..." she cooed as she pulled a ladle from her mass and scooped out a ball of her flesh. "...until you've tried my very special dish." She filled a tray in front of me, and then waited.

It took me a moment to work up the nerve to respond. " A-and if I don't eat it?"

"You will. I can wait." I looked at what she wanted me to eat. It was skin and thin muscle folded on top of itself, over and over again. I poked it and it moved. It was living meat!

"I'll never eat this!"

"You will. I can wait." she repeated. I realized something and shouted "Not for long! It'll be morning soon, then what?"

"Will it?" She smiled mischievously, and that's when I noticed the lack of lighting. Everything outside of us was completely dark. Had clouds obscured the moon?

__________

I wouldn't see the sun again until four months later. Morris and Teddy were eating lunch when I appeared literally out of nowhere. I haven't even tried to explain where I've been, my parents don't know what to think. Their solution has been to stick me in a boarding school where my movements are monitored. It's not good but I'm not sure an asylum would be better. Also now I get actual school lunches! They're not that great. Especially after what I've experienced.

She was right, after what felt like days I did eat it. And you know what? It was delicious. It was so good I couldn't leave! I had to have more, and she was happy to serve me all I could eat. I devoured every morsel of her body until she was nothing but a head, and I ate most of that too. It wasn't until I was slobbering over her meatless skull that I realized I had a problem.

But now things are different. I'm serious, I will never eat it again, no matter how delicious it is. Absolutely not. Never again!

I just wish Miss Mantelbrook wouldn't stand so close to me. She smells so good.