Author's note:
Mind altering substances. Monster sex.
These are fictitious events, by fictitious characters, in a very fictitious universe.
All events depicted are by characters at least 18 years of age.
Please consider that fair warning.
***
"Why you cry, little girl?"
Althea tried to control her sobbing as she looked around from the flat rock on the edge of the pond where she had been sitting cross legged. She didn't like being condescended to. Yes, being on the short size technically made her little. And crying by yourself outdoors was perhaps a bit childish. But she would start college in the fall, she wasn't a 'little girl'. Although she was too polite and well behaved to ever complain.
"It's okay, me lonely too."
The voice had a mechanical squawk that reminded her of how a talking parrot sounded.
It must be coming from behind that rock
. Althea decided.
"I'm not really lonely. I just wanted to get away." Althea was overcome as she thought about her granddad's coffin being lowered into the ground. "Why are you hidden?" She asked as she wiped her nose.
When she got no response, she stood up and started to walk over to where the voice had come from.
"I'm not pretty like you. I'm hideous, I don't want to scare you." The voice had gotten further away.
"You won't scare me." Althea answered. "Honestly."
She walked toward where the voice had gone but heard nothing more.
She went back to her flat rock and sat down.
Did I imagine that?
Althea wondered.
Everyone said an evil monster lived in the pond, and you shouldn't go there. The last boy who had gone there had been drowned by the monster, and the boy's ghost still wandered around at night.
Althea didn't believe it. The boy had dived into the pond and died from a broken neck when he hit a rock. The pond had a slight sulphur smell. As hot springs went, it wasn't a particularly steamy one. But even in winter, it stayed warm.
Nevertheless, Althea, like everyone else, had avoided the place. She had only gone there to get away from people. Although they were completely well meaning, she didn't want to be around family and friends that would ask her every two minutes if she was doing okay.
***
Althea kept coming by the pond. With only a little detour, she could stop by on her way home from her prep school. It took several trips but eventually the voice did come back. Always hidden behind the rocks.
"Why you keep coming back, little girl?"
"I want to talk to you." She answered. "I'm Althea, by the way."
"Nice meet you, Althea."
"And you are?" Althea prompted.
"No one."
"You must have a name."
"No, not even name."
"That's strange, everyone has a name."
"I'm not everyone."
"No, I suppose you aren't." Althea giggled. "Will you come out from behind the rocks?"
"No."
She had scared the voice off again.
***
Each time Althea came back, the conversations got slightly longer.
"I'm going to make up a name and call you that until or unless you give me a name." Althea announced.
"Oh please, I like to have name."
That was not the response Althea was expecting, and she suddenly had doubts. "Er, I wasn't intending it as a real name, more of a silly name in the hopes that you would then tell me your actual name." Althea stalled. "Promise me you won't get mad."
"I promise."
"Okay. I'm going to call you Polly."
"Polly... That's nice. Why Polly?"
"Uh..., your voice reminds me of a parrot."
Althea was a bit frightened by the response she got until she realized the voice was squawking like an angry parrot.
"That's really convincing." Althea smiled.
"Polly wanna' cracker." It responded.
***
The voice eventually told Althea it really was a monster. Not a human that was so deformed as to be a monster, but a real live monster like from a manga graphic novel.
Althea's first thought was a pornographic monster. She knew that manga really just meant comic, and just like most comic monsters have nothing to do with pornography, neither do most manga monsters. But Althea had read a lot of manga, and it had almost all been pornographic - pornographic and weird, in the way that Japanese porn could get really weird.
Furthermore, the voice said it wasn't just a normal monster, but it was a deformed monster so hideous as to be shunned by other monsters!
Althea didn't know what to make of that.
***
Everytime Althea talked to it, she asked it to come out from behind the rocks. The voice finally confessed its fear.
"If you see me, you won't come back."