I woke up in the morning (well, my morning or the typical human’s night, as I am quite the nocturnal creature) to their mouthwatering smell.  The humans were so tempting; I could not remember the last time I had eaten one.  I could even smell them from here — like mother’s fried whale, drafting through the lake at dinnertime when I was a child.  Enough reminiscing, Grendel, I thought to myself.  You have a mission: Devour the humans.  You cannot help yourself; it is their fault for kicking you out of their kingdom, and of course, it is not your fault they smell so delicious.  As always, I completely agree with myself, so I inaudibly creep out of my cold cave into the night.  I am so excited that goosebumps begin to form on my arms, despite the warm weather as I slowly and stealthily approach Herot, with only light from the night’s watcher to guide me.  The juicy smell of the humans becomes stronger as I approach Herot, and my mouth begins to water, just thinking of my teeth biting down on their soft, warm flesh and crunching on their bones. After struggling to get through the small door opening of the building, I am inside Herot, and I see the strong, healthy humans sleeping on the floor.  What are you doing, Grendel? I ask myself as I hesitate to disturb them.  The healthy ones taste the best!  I mentally scream to myself, but another, smaller voice reminds me, You do not have to do this; you do not have to turn into the monster they already think you are.  I laugh at that thought and grab the first one I see, crushing him in my hand.  I feel his bones crunching in my hands as he yelps in pain, then goes limp as I continue to crush him.  Blood seeps from him, trickling down my arm, as if I were squeezing a raspberry pie.  I quickly devour him and grab a handful more, shoveling them into my mouth as they scream in terror.  I feel their bones crunch in my mouth, as the delicious, iron taste of their blood seeps down my throat.  I grab the humans by the handful and laugh at them as they try to escape me.  Nothing can stop my rage as I eat as many as I can as fast as I can.  I eat around thirty in all, before I decide to stop for the night.  I immediately decide to come back for another feast tomorrow night, realizing that I can have my feast every day, and I chastise myself for not realizing this earlier.  I walk back to my cave, quite satisfied with my meal, and eager for tomorrow night, when I can continue my feast. 

Tomorrow night never happened.  Or the next night.  Or the night after that.  Twelve years passed where Herot was deserted, and anyone who stayed there was immediately devoured by Satan’s gift to earth (also known as me).  I do not often have visitors in my human-made cave, which is why I was so ecstatic to awaken to the strong smell blood.  I crept towards Herot, only to find guards standing in front of the building.  My stomach rumbles as their smell becomes stronger as I approach.  I greedily grab the first guard I see and devour him.  I reach for the next one, but he fights back.  I chuckle at his attempt to fight, but the more he struggles, the more I realize he is a danger.  I am absolutely dismayed at this man’s strength as I look down at him, the strongest shrimp of them all. I immediately become frightened.  You’re five times bigger than him, I tell myself.  He can't beat you.  As much as I tell myself this, I still find myself struggling against him.  I am so caught up in my own confusion that I do not even realize what is happening until I feel my arm being ripped out of its socket.  I groan in pain above the cheers of the people, and I run back to my own cave, where I can still hear the people praising man’s savior.