PUMPKINSEED (Cabo 12/2018)

The Monster, Unleashed

This is a story, a story of a man, a monster, and a seed. This is not a history so please do not expect documentation of the hundreds of people, if any, who lost their connection with all that is animate and were edited out of the final cut of the living.

After the rampage, film scholars went back and studied The Monster's lone movie. Having no voice and no shape still limited the Monster's screen presence, but a new fear, a fear of corners and cobwebs squeezed the heart and deflated the lungs. This Monster could not be heard. This Monster could not be seen. This Monster was both nothing and most terrifying.

Why the monsters who were MB's guests did not put up more of a fight is easily explained. First of all, they are professional terrors. They were on holiday.  Why should they want conflict when they are on holiday?  Yes, the accommodations were free, but they were not worth a fight or endangering love ones.

Now as for the dispute over loss of lives, different monster publicist went different directions. Monsters who had established actor fame said it was all a staged sideshow and publicity grab by MB and his crew and that they no longer wanted to participate. Publicists for new, up-and-coming monsters told tales of carnage, confrontation, and bravery by all concerned. Since they did not defeat our wiry Monster of note, they embellished his ruthlessness and power. Again, this not being a history, either hundreds died or no one died. But the publicists with the more lurid stories were more inspired and these stories of imagination and grim resolutions were the stories that tended to be repeated.

As soon as the monsters cleared out, even the Daisy Plucker and Sniffles the allergy-plagued clown, both who had never received perks for their movie roles before and were actually more willing than most to put up a fight, then the resort staff also vacated the premises.  Obviously, with no one to serve and being unable to convince loved ones that the tales of bloodshed where more bandaid than dismemberment, even the most loyal staffers thought the 66 mile commute to TBD and back was a car ride too far.

Our Monster was on top of the world. Why hadn't any monster thought of haunting a resort before?  This was certainly much better than a dank castle or decrepit house.  There was plenty of food, not that the Monster need much to eat, a single spaghetti noodle or a asparagus stalk was all that was necessary to fuel himself.

And the publicity!  The Monster never had an agent and saw no point in getting one because he could not get more exposure than what was pouring out from the cable news channels:  Monster takes Resort Hostage!  No Holiday from Terror!  No one tells this Monster to get out of the Pool!  Happy Hour Strikes Midnight!  Yes, most would not be content with the limited companionship but our Monster, not being able to be perceived through sight nor sound, survived on less companionship than the spaghetti noodle that fueled his body.

However, MB was not about to let his TBD dreams be dashed. He saw hope. He saw opportunity. Praise be, he could not have asked for better publicity. Now, with his expertise, he needed to bend the publicity, shape the publicity, mold the publicity, milk the publicity for every drop. Why, MB chuckled, when it was all over, Vegas would be a small suburb of his colossal future TBD.

Now that he had the publicity, MB's next step was to get rid of his shapeless squatter. He looked to local officials.  They said they would look into it and never dared to investigate, truthfully telling MB that they saw nothing. The state officials said they would investigate but they said that the local reports were conclusive and satisfied them. The federal officials said that this was a state and local matter, especially since the local and state had already investigated, and since there was no more threat to any lives and since MB seemed to be getting his just desserts, they were happy to let this creature be with the scorpions and snakes and other creepy crawlys that should exist in the middle of nowhere. 

So MB turned to mercenaries, retired SEALS, Rangers, and Special Ops. MB hired the best of the best, well actually, the best of the bargain best, and Our Hero was the cream of the bargain best.