THE PRICE PER POUND

The man sat almost in the firepit, staring straight ahead as he gnawed at a chunk of burnt and smoking bone.  I could not tell from where he had obtained the meat, and this troubled me.  The carcass had been cooked- well, it had been burnt fully black, and he had scattered the bones and the cuts of meat into an unrecognizable pile.  He saw me staring and called out.  "You!  Yes, you there!  Care for a bite?"  He pointed the tip of his mysterious bone at me, sloppily chewing as he spoke.  "You look like a hungry one, you do."  And I was, I was ravenous.  My provisions had run out two days ago, all I had was a canteen of rainwater.  My stomach growled as I looked at his massive pile of barbecue, but I still held back.  "What is it?" I asked, my mouth filling with drool as the marvelous smell of roasted meat hit me.  He giggled, an oddly small sound coming from a man so large.  "It's free, is what it is." his smile faded as he spoke, and my horror grew as I recognized the curves and contours of his bloody bones.  "It's free meat."