You were hiking through the woods and found that you had gotten lost. You had left the trail and been unable to find it again. It was beginning to get late. You had been walking for hours. Finally, you found a path again, leading up a shallow hill. As you reach the top of the hill, you find yourself in a small clearing, with a little stone building in the center.
The light of the setting sun shines through the entryway behind you, as well as a few small windows, illuminating what appears to be a shrine. A statue of a large cat with sits and looks down at you. Between you and the statue is a large stone plaque. It has an inscription that reads:
I am the Goddess of Hunger
Worship me, and I shall ensure you are cared for
Feed me, and I shall ensure you never starve
Offer me your troubles, and I shall devour them
You notice that the top of the plaque has a bowl shaped indentation at the top. You look up, and the statue's shining glass eyes seem fixated on you. You never believed in these sorts of things, but you can't help but feel some kind of power here. It's probably just your imagination. But...
You reach into your backpack and pull out what remains of your trail mix. You consider if it's an appropriate offering. Chocolate is poison to cats. You've never seen a cat show interest in a peanut or a cashew. There's some dried fruit, but cats are carnivores, aren't they? The dried strawberries catch your eye, their red-pink coloration now appearing like chunks of meat. Maybe that counts enough. You pick out every piece and place it in the offering bowl.
You figure that you should rest here. It won't do any good to stumble around in the dark, and you're already exhausted. You look for a suitable place to lay, and see an alcove with what looks like a stone bed inside. The smooth bowl shaped surface is more comfortable than you expected.
As you try to sleep, you consider the reasons you ended up in this situation. You just needed to get out for a bit. Away from society. Away from the stress. When you left the trail, you knew you could get lost. Maybe you even wanted to. You regret it now. It was stupid to come out here. But what else could you do? Tears begin to roll down your face.
You wake up to a woman standing by you. She helps you to your feet and leads you outside. She walks by your side and shows you the way back home, pointing out landmarks to find your way. Distinct branches, unusual patches of moss, and large stones. She continues to walk with you after you reach the path you originally left, all the way to the front door of your home. Before you walk in, She stops and turns to you. She embraces you. bites into you, and pulls something out of you with her teeth.
You wake up in the shrine alone. You gather your things and start to walk back down the hill. You follow all the signs She showed you, easily making back to the path you left. You back to your home. When you check the phone you left behind the day before, you find messages containing good news. Somehow, it seems as if some of the pressure has been lifted.
Perhaps you'll return to the shrine some other day
