“It’s a terrible thing, a dark mark of evil upon the world. No one knows when it will strike, or where, or who. It does not discriminate. It doesn’t care who it kills. It doesn’t spare the young or the old or the women. It doesn’t care what kind of life they lived, it just kills them, SHWAP, just like that. Before they can even scream.”

Our leader pauses, for effect, and looks each one of us in the eyes. He is covered with creepy shadows, cast upon him by the light we gather around. It is a manhood ceremony, and by telling us this story, he is showing us he trusts us to be mature about the truth. We all try to hide our panic, and my best friend buzzes in my ear, barely audible, asking me what I thought of the story.

“It’s ridiculous.” I whisper back, fighting the terror gnawing at my heart. “There’s no such monster.” I laugh nervously, and the Counselor glares at me. I fall silent. My best friend makes a half-smile, and I know he is just as worried as I am, but wants to be a man.

“There is one more thing you should know about The Monster.” The Counselor’s gravely voice brings me back to Earth. “It cannot leave the Track of Black Energy. Or else it will die. Stay away from the Black Path.” We all murmur that we will, and he departs, leaving us to mull over his words.

Time passes, and the effect of the Counselor’s warning fades. It's just another myth, a mist of uncertain truths, hidden by the stark realness of life. I have bigger things to worry about than a quite-possibly-nonexistent “Black Path”. I am a man now, and I needed to choose a female, and breed with her before her time passes and I am left the only one in my group of friends without successors to my name. My brain doesn’t have room for much else.

I finally find someone, and once we bond, things get a whole lot better in my social life. Soon she's heavy with child, and my brain is fuzzy on a hormonal high. She has a craving, and you know how pregnant women are. So we set off toward the park – it has a picnic area – to satisfy her hunger. The trip is carefree, until we were almost to the park.

We could see it, clear as day – right on the other side of an open black area. I balk, fear creeping over me. However, she needs to eat to feed our babies, and, being the hormonal slave I am, I move close to her and began to cautiously cross.

It is only a little further now, there has been no Monster. I relax ever so slightly. The next thing I feel is pain beyond life itself.

“Bonnie!” I cry, then the very light of my being is extinguished, my body parts spattered mercilessly. I am snubbed out nearly instantly, leaving Bonnie weeping for my soul.



*******************


“Ew! That was a big one!”
“The mosquitoes are so horrible this time of year. Try turning on the windshield wipers.” A button is pressed and the sponges slide across the window, wiping away every trace.