Little Monsters

My friend from work's story: When she was little she used to have a competition with her younger sister. They dipped their heads in a bucket of water to see who could hold their breath the longest. One time the little sister came very close to breaking their all time record, so my friend 'helped' by holding down the sister's head in the water. The little sister flailed her arms wildly and desperately while my friend 'encouraged' her to 'hang in there' a bit longer. Don't worry, the little sister survived. She's alive and is doing very well.
When I heard that story, I wondered why I never did anything like that. I was a little angel compared to my friend. Then I remembered an incident involving a very unfortunate grasshopper. When I was about seven or eight, Mom bought me a kitchen set. There were tiny pots and pans and they were made of tin so I could really cook something in them! So I arranged some bricks and lighted a candle in the middle as a stove. Then I put a pot on and filled it with water, leaves and some flowers. I'm going to make a lovely soup, I thought. But a soup is not complete without meat. So I caught a fat grasshopper from the backyard, shoved it in the pot and closed the lid. After a few minutes, I opened the lid. I didn't know what I expected to see, but what I saw was a very dead grass hopper, bobbing up and down grotesquely in the boiling water. My stomach turned and I suddenly realized what a horrible death I had given the poor insect. I don't remember what I did to it next. I really hope I gave it a proper burial. If you think kids are angels, think again.