Third Day (NOON)

She doesn't know what to do, she's never been in this kind of situation before and even if she did she couldn't remember.

She sighed with frustration, her small hands massaged her temple, she was frustrated as couldn't find a solution.

'its no use... Should I really just throw this away? How do I even cut at this rate? Should I bite it off? Will it work?'

She looked at the corpse, hesitant,

she then shook her head along with her hesitastion and decided to try gnawing the limb.

She bent down and and bit one of the furry front leg of the rat, hard,

it was stiff and smelled foul but she bit till her jaws hurt, then she tore a bit of fur and meat from the limb.

"Blehhg!!"

She spits out the chunk she tore,

and looked at the small progress she made,

though disgusting as it is,

she realized it biting it off was feasible so she continued gnawing till a visible bone is seen on the surface.

Her jaws hurt to the point where she can't feel it, her eyes grew dim as she realized it will take her all day to tear the limbs apart and she worries that a creature could come here at anytime because of the smell.

She looked at the small chunks of meat and fur she tore off then look at the visible bone,

she tried to pull the limb now that the bone is visible and there's barely anything that can keep it attached, with all her meager strength she managed to pull it out,

falling down because of losing balance in the process.

Her dim as eyes were replaced with happy ones as her bloody mouth formed a silly grin,

this results rekindled her determination as the started gnawing feverishly to the second front limb, she decided to focus doing this task and worry about the threat of creatures attacking her later,

since it's not like she could help it by worrying.

By now the sun is at it's peak neither early morning or late afternoon,

she managed to tear away the second limb and is now gnawing on the hind limb,

and by now her jaw is already way past numb,

the hind legs are thicker than the front ones making it even more challenging to bite off.

She decided to stop as she feels anymore and she might lose her jaws,

she spat out the fur mixed meat as she stood up,

after all that gnawing she realized that the rat's hide isn't really that tough and thought it's hind leg is tough,

with a little more strength she can bite through it.

She also found out that it's teeth is blunt and sharp,

since she accidentally cut her hand during her gnawing session.

She looked at the two protruding teeth of the rat,

and then at the cut in her hand, then it dawned on her.

'This thing is sharp like the rock but it's wider, maybe I could use it to cut off the leg?

Why didn't I think of this before?!

Did I really waste all my time biting this thing if I could've used it's teeth in the beginning?!'

The thought left her shocked and regretful,

then she once more looked at the teeth and thought.

'How do I get it off? I don't think I can stab it.... Maybe I can smash it?

There are rocks by the river, there should be large rocks that aren't too heavy to use...'

After a few short while she thought

'okay in any case it's not like I have anything to lose!!'

She confidently walked out, moving towards the riverbank as the sound of rushing water crashing through rocks slowly makes it's presence known.

The scent of fresh leaves filled the air and she enjoyed it thoroughly, she looked at the nearby river and the bunch of stones near it,

some covered in moss and others as pointy as her trusted rock, some too huge for her.

While some too small to use, there are slab like ones, and round ones too

The one that caught her attention was neither too big nor too small, it was big enough for her to carry both hands but small enough not to block her vision, it doesn't look too heavy nor light.

She walked towards it and tried to lift it, despite how it looks it wouldn't budge,

she sighed and give up opting to look around,

then besides it was another rock it was smaller than the one she tried to lift it could barely fit her hand and it looked ragged,

she looked around once more,

seeing only rocks too big and too small,

with no other options she took the rock,

it was rough and heavy but she could still use it to smash something.

She returned back to the house,

and smashed the rock towards the head of the rat with all her strength,

she didn't hesitate,

there was a cracking sound and her hands stung her rock was tainted crimson with her blood,

There was also a dent in the rat's head, she ignored the stinging pain she just felt happy that her conclusion was viable

She continued smashing forgetting the pain, till something came tore of the rat's head, it was it's brain, bloody and messy.

She grew used to the bloody sight of the rat, but the new gory sight just brought her to reality.

her mind shook,

'what am I doing? Am I a monster? Eating this thing raw? Tearing it's limbs off! And even smashing it's head! This isn't normal!!'

She knew this was the most rational thing to do, but as she thought things through something about her actions disturbed her

'What is normal? How do I know this isn't normal? If I don't do this what am I supposed to do?'

She thought some more, losing her strength, she fell down

'I don't have any other choice, I don't know how to cook! I can't even start a fire! What choice do I have other than to eat it raw?'

She rationalized, all her questions and slowly tried to compose herself

'If I don't tear it's limbs off I can't clean it and I'll be eating bloody meat till it rots!!

And if I don't smash it's head I won't get those teeth and make it easier to cut off it's limbs, so what if it's not normal!!?

It's not like normal can keep me alive!'

She thought her shaken thoughts slowly gather and her scattered strength returned,

though still perturbed by the bloody glistering thing peeking through it's head she continued smashing the rock till the head felt soft and squishy,

she carefully held the teeth and tore it off the skull was already cracked in half and the meat holding it together practically putty,

she successfully took the face of the rat along with the teeth.

It was disturbing to say the least, it's eyeballs still attached, it looked like a realistic Halloween mask made with the sole intentions of disgusting and giving trauma to those who saw it.

The some nerves still strung from the eyes to the meat putty called a brain,

She forced the eyeballs out of it's sockets, by cruelly poking it out.

She took a deep breath, this was too much even for her,

she understands she needed to do this, it's too cruel, but the deed is already done,

She has to accept this.

She used the socket as a handle, it easily fit her small hands and violently thrust her newly aquired weapon, as it easily tore the meat revealing the bone of the rat's thighs, with another thrust the bone broke, and by the third try she severed the limb.

All her efforts, all her hard work! It finally paid off, forgetting her previous regrets and musings she felt elated.

And looked at the last limb, the one she already chewed on,

She cut it off and finally sat down.

All the chewing, smashing and cutting, exhausted her strength, it was a miracle that she even managed to do this all alone with just her will.

She was so tired that she wanted to sleep but she knew she couldn't rest, even so, her body can no longer stand it and after all that emotional and physical burden, she was forced to sleep.