Sean: They look happy.

The town square is overflowing.

Record harvests.

Record profits.

Record attendance at the Summer Festival.

Children laugh.

Bands play.

Politicians smile for photographs.

Everything looks perfect.

---

Eljara: Do they?

---

Sean watches two farmers standing beside award-winning produce.

Neither looks pleased.

---

One studies the other’s blue ribbon.

---

The other studies his.

---

Sean: That’s strange.

---

Eljara: No.

---

Sean waits.

---

Eljara: That’s normal.

---

The festival continues.

Pies.

Prizes.

Trophies.

Celebrations.

---

Yet beneath every conversation lurks the same question:

---

Who has more?

---

More land.

More money.

More success.

More recognition.

---

A merchant expands his business.

His competitors spread rumors.

---

A family buys a new television.

Three neighbors immediately begin discussing how to get a better one.

---

A farmer wins first prize.

The crowd applauds.

---

Then immediately asks how much he earned.

---

Sean watches quietly.

---

Sean: Nobody seems satisfied.

---

Eljara lights a cigarette.

---

Eljara: Satisfaction doesn’t create competition.

---

The summer wind moves through the festival banners.

---

A church bell rings in the distance.

Few people notice.

---

Everyone is watching everyone else.

---

Comparing.

Measuring.

Counting.

---

Sean studies the crowd.

---

Nobody is starving.

Nobody is desperate.

Nobody is poor.

---

Yet everyone seems anxious.

---

As if somebody else might be getting more.

---

Sean: What happened to everybody?

---

The question hangs in the warm evening air.

---

Eljara watches the crowd.

The harvest.

The prizes.

The endless comparisons.

---

Finally:

---

Eljara: They stopped celebrating blessings.

---

Sean frowns.

---

Eljara: Now they celebrate rankings.

---

A long silence.

---

Nearby, children trade baseball cards.

One boy already has more than anyone else.

---

Yet he keeps demanding more.

---

Another child begins crying.

---

Sean watches.

---

Sean: He already won.

---

Eljara nods.

---

Sean: Then why does he want more?

---

The church bell rings again.

---

This time nobody looks up.

---

Finally:

---

Eljara: Because winning isn’t the point anymore.

---

Sean looks at her.

---

Eljara: Now it’s about making sure nobody else does.

---

The festival glows beneath the setting sun.

Beautiful.

Prosperous.

Successful.

---

Yet beneath the abundance something else is growing.

---

Not gratitude.

---

Not community.

---

Not joy.

---

Envy.

---

And envy never has enough.

---

🜍 Month 6 · Pulp Cthulhu Noir
🜍 Week 3 — The Summer of Envy
🜍 When gratitude dies, hunger takes its place.

---

If you remember what this felt like —
you already know the hunger.

The bigger harvest.
The better prize.
The quiet feeling that somebody else might have more than you.

Step back into it.
Or keep chasing a victory that never feels like enough.

👉 https://startplaying.games/gm/dunchan

Want to go deeper?

Then walk through the festival.

Past the ribbons.
Past the trophies.
Past the smiling faces measuring themselves against everyone else.

The dossiers are waiting.
The weeds are growing.

👉 https://www.patreon.com/c/mythveilchronicles_bydunchanhuntergames