The generators roared as it came to life, disturbing Reyrey’s afternoon nap. It must be 1:04pm, he thought; because 1:00pm is when the city’s electricity shuts down and it takes four minutes for the generators to switch on. These rolling brown-outs now happen on a daily basis.
Reyrey wanted to bury his head between the black trash bags that served as his pillows and blanket; but he didn’t even try to go back to sleep.
He stood up and stretched and looked around the street corner where he and his friends would usually beg for money, gamble with that money, and rummage for trash. He hasn’t seen Ronnie, Rick, and Tomboy for the past four days.
Underneath where Reyrey stood, under the level that housed the generators, the Beast growled for more food.
Lately, the Beast’s nightly meals have not been enough to keep it satisfied. The summer heat had made more hungry than usual.
These brown-outs have become the perfect excuse to switch on the generators of all the buildings in the city in an effort to mask the roar of the Beast as it feeds and to cover up the screams of its latest sacrifice.
Reyrey took a step of the curb and saw Rick’s lucky tsinelas—the one with the nail driven through it. Reyrey cradled it in his hands and began to worry.
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