The Hunger Read Online Free PDF

mother’s low-fat yogurt and leftovers from last night’s dinner. The pantry was equally bereft of snacks.
    She reached up to the top shelf and with shaking hands, pulled down a dented coffee canister. She tore the lid off with such fury that she cut her hand, but she was oblivious to the pain. Thank God! There were two twenty-dollar bills left of grocery money. Stuffing the bills into her pocket, she dashed out the front door and headed for the store.
    Just a little treat is all I want, rationalized Paula. Maybe a cupcake, or a chocolate bar. She told herself that she took the rest of the money just in case she needed some groceries for the family.
    When she got into the store, the first thing she spied was a package of store baked butter tarts, twelve for $4.99. Perfect, she thought. That’s all I want. I’ll have one butter tart, and the rest will be for the family. Better just look around though, maybe we’re out of something at home. She pushed her cart to the dairy aisle and noticed that shelved beside the milk were litre cartons of Caramilk chocolate milk, $1.99each. A tiny glass of rich chocolate would be good with a butter tart. And Erik could have the rest. She had to walk through the freezer aisle to get to the check-out counter, and on her way there she spied Chocolate Madness Extraordinary ice cream, $5.49 a carton. Who am I kidding? Into the cart it went. Her stomach rumbled as she passed through the bakery section. What the hell, she said to herself, throwing in a chocolate fudge birthday cake with pink and white icing, $8.99; a store baked cherry pie, only $3.79! Oh, garlic bread, only $1.99! Sounds good. Salty. I want something salty. She loped down the snack aisle and grabbed a 240 gram package of ripple potato chips, $3.49—“great value!” the package exclaimed. Paula agreed. Further down in the snack aisle, she spied Double Stuff Oreo Cookies, $3.49. She threw those into the cart too. Chicken, she mumbled. Nice hot greasy chicken. She ran with her cart over to the deli section and scooped up a steaming rotisserie chicken, just $4.19!
    She stopped when she estimated that she had reached her forty dollar limit. When the cashier looked with curiosity at the array of food, Paula said, “It’s a birthday party. Mom’s got a carload of kids to feed.” The cashier handed Paula a few coins in change.
    Hugging the two grocery bags to her chest, Paula walked out of the store, careful to appear nonchalant.
    At home, her demeanour changed. There was nolonger the need to hide her hunger once the front door closed behind her. Paula dumped the bags onto the kitchen table and ripped them open, letting her precious hoard fall across the table. Her mouth rilled with saliva at the sight of so much forbidden food. She opened the tinfoil bag of hot chicken, tore off a piece of meat and shoved it into her mouth. Her greasy fingers slipped as they opened the Caramilk, and then she took a swig. She grabbed a wooden spoon from the cudery drawer and scooped an enormous spoonful of ice-cream from the container. The chocolate richness of the cold dessert filled her mouth and a shiver of fulfillment coursed through her. Next came the cherry pie. Using the same spoon, she dug right to the centre of it and gorged on a huge serving of cherry filling. She tore open the bag of chips and the Double Stuff Oreos, filling her mouth with cookies and chips together. The salty sweetness satisfied a need deep within her.
    It seemed that in a blink of an eye, the food was gone. Paula looked at the devastation with dismay. Chicken bones sat in pools of melted ice-cream. Empty cartons and soiled utensils had scattered over the table and on to the floor.
    What have I done? Her hands were sticky with remnants of her feast. She let out a low moan and pounded a fist on the table. Oh God, I am so bad! And to think that the stupid doctor thought I was too thin. This little episode will put ten pounds on me.

    She ran to the bathroom, then