Modern Monsters

Andy & Marv: Part Two

Male Main Character x Female Human

I've been living in the city for almost a year now, and I've been bouncing from job to job ever since. Most people don't want to hire a gator from the bayou, at least on appearance. I had left my home of Louisiana, hoping to find something better for myself, something exciting.

A friend of mine offered me a place to stay with them, so I took them up on their offer. I was excited to try something new, get out of my comfort zone and start somewhere new. But it was a much harder learning curve than I expected.

Back home, magic was as natural as breathing. It was everywhere. I grew up knowing witches, and necromancers. Here, it is as if people are blind to the magic around them. It's a stark comparison. In the bayou, you are taught to respect it and treat it well. But here, where people don't even realize it, the magic is almost stepped on and ignored. It's shoved into a dark corner that they all call the Goblin Market.

By chance, I have been drug there several times, taken in by the locals who have tried to trick me into their wares and alliances. I don't consider myself a creature who is in tune with the phantasmagorical, but for some reason, the shades of the Goblin Market seem to love me.

I'm a big guy, not hiding that. Actually, I can't. I'm eight feet tall with a six-foot-long tail, I'm very used to being noticed and being looked at. I can brush off stares quite easy. But I'm not used to humans. Back home, as I said, I was surrounded by creatures like me. Here, it is mostly humans and ones that aren't used to things like me.

I'm pretty shy as it is, but working my way through the city has made me horribly aware of myself. I've gone on exactly one date since I got here. Everything else makes me feel like a freak of fetish, and it's done nothing to help my self-confidence like they claim it will.

My longest running job was at the docks, and it was kind of horrible. I'm strong and used to hard work, but this was exhausting for me. It was mainly working at night or in the early mornings too, so it only furthered my feelings of alienation. It also made me reek of fish, and one wants to hang around the giant guy who stinks like five-day-old fish.

Whenever I can, I've been going out job hunting. I had applied to the nursing home, hoping to get a job there. Back home, I used to janitor for one, and I was a good job. I used to love talking to the people there, hearing their histories and learning about them.

I actually started volunteering at the nursing home, even when my application was rejected. My dad taught me to play the trumpet when I was little, and it's become one of the few pleasures I have here in the city. I decided that perhaps, even if I couldn't work there, I could still help the people. I tried to go once a week and play my trumpet for them for an hour or so.

Today, it was like the sky was falling. The rain was gushing down with such torrential force it reminded me of home. I was considering not going. My friend and roommate hadn't come home. He had gone to work and told me he was going out that evening, but I never heard from him. He still wasn't back, so I was concerned. I decided to go, telling myself he had met someone and just stayed with them.

I find myself laughing as I drive to the nursing home, the old song "It Never Rains in California" is playing, and I can't help but find it highly comical, given the situation.

Once at the nursing home, the crusty old nurse behind the front desk gives me my pass and waves me away. I don't much care for her and her demeanor. Also, I feel bad saying this, but the way her face is, I can't tell if the nurse is a man or woman, or even human.

I go into the recreation room, and I'm warmly welcomed there. I greet some of the old ladies and shake the hands of some of the men. It feels good to have such a warm reception here.