Northern_Lights_2021

8 Monster The girl left but it wasn’t the last I would see of her. For some odd reason, she would come back. We didn’t interact, but she would watch me from afar, hiding behind the corners, believing I did not know she was there. She did not stay long, only an hour or so. I do not know what her purpose is in following me, but I let her, as she does not bother me. I stayed in the general vicinity so it could not be hard to find me. It is rather nice having someone near and aware of your presence, even if there is no communication. She continued this for several days, never saying anything. She surprised me one day, however. As I went to turn the corner of the sewer tunnel, I found a small pile of food: an apple, loaf of bread, handful of miniature carrots. The girl must have noticed that I do not often eat food, and when I do, it is one of the rats in the sewer. They are not good, but they are not the worst thing I have eaten in my life. I sit and examine the food. I notice strange aspects about the food. The apple is heavily bruised, and the miniature carrots look as though they were crushed. The bread is in no better condition as it looks as though it was stepped on. I do not complain, however; it is still much better than the rats. This began a new cycle. The girl would stay to watch me, and when she left, I would go over to where she had been and there would be a pile of food. It was usually the same food with the same imperfections. Why does she treat me with this kindness? Does she hope to gain something? What an interesting girl. This continued for several weeks. Then, one day, it stopped. The girl did not show up. No more food showed up. The sneaky, but still loud, footsteps had stopped. She was nowhere. This did not seem right. Why would she invest so much time to watch and help me, only to just stop? I have never understood humans before, but this seems very strange, even for them. The next day, once again, she did not show up. It did not sit right with me. I sat on the ground, thinking and thinking, until I made up my mind. I got up from my spot and started walking, and I made my way out of my usual whereabouts. Emma I guess this is what I get for not minding my own business, I think as I’m crawling my way across the floor of the sewer tunnel. Why did I have to steal food for that monster? He looked like he was enjoying those rats so why did I think he needed more? Stupid. I should have figured I’d get caught eventually, especially since I went back to the same store twice. I guess the workers there didn’t believe in calling the police and they liked to deal out justice themselves by taking me to the back of an alley and beating me half to death. At least they didn’t kill me though. Gotta look on the bright side. Now, I’m dragging my half-dead body across the sewer. I don’t know why this was the first place I thought of going. There was a hospital nearby. While I didn’t have money or even insurance, I could get patched up and dip when they weren’t looking. Easy peasy. Instead, I’m looking for help from that monster. What could it possibly do? Why would it even help me? Yeah, I brought it food, but it’s not like it was top quality. Fuck, I’m so dumb. I stop crawling for a second because the pain is excruciating. My head starts spinning and I let loose the little food I had left in my stomach. I’m a fucking mess. I try to start crawling, but I can’t. Everything is spinning too fast; as I start to pass out, I see a distant figure walking towards me. Maybe the store owner decided to finish things off. This is the last thing I think of before I’m out. God, my head is pounding. I don’t even wanna open my eyes. Who knows what I’ll see when I do: heaven or hell? Considering I’m in excruciating pain, I’m going to guess hell. I hesitantly start to open my eyes, but I’m not greeted with fire or little demons; instead, I see it. My big monster friend. It’s sitting against the sewer wall, picking through a pile of food that very obviously came from a garbage bin. I push on my elbows to sit up, but my vision goes wonky, so I stop trying. “Please, do not attempt to sit up,” the monster says. “It does not seem as though anything is broken, but you are very bruised. You will be in pain for a few days.” He starts rummaging through his “food” pile and picks a half-eaten apple. “Apple?” it asks. I am starving, so I respond, “Yeah. Thanks.” It extends the apple and I lift my arm and grab it. I finish the apple in two big bites and throw the core away. As the apple core plops into the nearby water, the monster speaks again, “May I ask what happened?”