Augustus woke up.
The morning sunlight shone through the window onto his bed, immediately reminding him of something.
Today was a special day.
-it was his seventh birthday.
He got out of bed and left the bedroom to find several of his friends already waiting in the living room.
Cassandra was his older sister.
Her gift was a literary novel-
the kind that was all the rage lately.
"Thank you, sis."
Augustus thanked her sincerely.
Cassandra said, "You're welcome. I'm your sister. I hope that whenever you deal with anything, you'll judge it with wisdom rather than emotion."
Beside her, his good friend Shen Ye handed him a pebble.
"I found it by the river. It's pretty, so it's yours."
Shen Ye said.
Augustus took the pebble.
The patterns on it were fascinating and colorful. It really was pretty.
Shen Ye had probably searched for a long time to find a stone like this.
"Thanks!"
Augustus said happily.
Kill him.
The thought rose from deep within him, stunning the previously cheerful Augustus.
Kill-
Shen Ye?
How could I think something like that?
"Try the cake I made myself. Happy birthday."
Another friend brought over a cake.
This friend was especially good at making food and had quite a knack for it. Everyone liked calling him the breakfast shop manager.
"Thanks. It looks delicious."
Augustus was thrilled.
His sister fetched a table knife and silently handed it to him.
"You cut it and share it with everyone."
His sister said.
"No problem," Augustus said.
He gripped the table knife and began dividing the fragrant cream cake for everyone.
Kill.
Kill Shen Ye.
He deserves to die.
All I have to do is kill him and offer his corpse to-
Clang!
The table knife fell to the floor.
"What's wrong with you?