I ate a god today. I poured their blood in my cup and it flowed over my tongue in a river of cool purple. I cut open the gut of their flesh and served myself slices of their tender meat. From their bones they broiled a stock to flavor my senses and draw forth the devoured blessings. I filled my plates and belly, and I mutilated and butchered a god to sustain my futile hope that one day I may sit upon a throne like an ancient pharaoh.  

I ate a god today. I do not know which one, but it was glorious. 

The dullness of home chisels away at my sanity until I’m left kneeling and begging for yet another taste. I don’t remember the first time I succumbed to this madness, only that I did it long enough ago that it’s ingrained into my daily ritual. I cannot go without lovingly carving away another morsel. There’s a power in it—I can feel it. My mind sharpens and gleams with the pointed edge of dedication. Obsession. Nothing can stop me after a feast. 

I’m called a fool, but what do they know? They’ve never tasted the power of a god on their tongue—it tickles the palate and jolts the veins. If I were someone different, someone new, they’d call me monarch. A touch of the divine. My fingerprints leave dustings of magic incomprehensible to the ignorant, so they scoff and call me delusional. But what is illusory about eating a god? 

The front door opens, and in steps the lion-headed goddess bearing the gifted fruits of her kin. I scramble across the floor like a slobbering dog to kneel at her benevolent feet. Sekhmet, She Who Is Powerful, I pray. Her muzzle curls in the usual half-snarl of disdain at my wretched mortality. She sets plates and bowls of divine food on the table. Her blessing is bestowed. I take my seat with dull utensils in hand. Which god blesses my tongue tonight? I tear into tender thighs and lean calves. Drink the thick soup of ichor. Taste the thrum of mad magic. 

Sekhmet’s heels click as she slips back out the door, her white robe flapping in the wind. “Chris? We’re going to need an increase in dosage.”