Mara: Who’s the monster?

Chibi looks across the playground.

Children run between swings and elm trees.

Someone skips rope.

Someone trades baseball cards.

Tommy sits alone beneath a tree, drawing beetles in his notebook.

Chibi: Don’t know.

Mara: Then how are we supposed to find it?

Chibi: That’s the game.

Billy gathers the children.

Billy: There’s a monster in town.

Mara: Has anybody seen it?

Billy: People have.

Mara: Who?

Billy: People.

Chibi nods solemnly.

Chibi: Very reliable source.

Billy explains the rules.

One child is secretly the monster.

Nobody knows who.

Everyone must watch everyone else.

At first, it’s fun.

Girl: Chibi’s the monster!

Chibi: Finally.

Girl: You’ve got red hair.

Chibi: Compelling evidence.

The children laugh.

Then Billy points towards Tommy.

Billy: Maybe he’s the monster.

Mara: Why?

Billy: He’s always watching things.

Mara: Beetles.

Billy: That’s weird.

By lunchtime, the rules have changed.

Don’t sit beside someone who might be the monster.

Don’t defend them.

Tell the others if you see anything unusual.

Nancy sits beside Tommy.

Billy: Why are you sitting with him?

Nancy: He’s my friend.

Billy looks at the others.

Billy: Maybe she’s one too.

Later, Mara confronts him.

Mara: Who decided Tommy was the monster?

Billy: Everyone knows.

Mara: Who’s everyone?

Nobody answers.

One child heard it from another.

Who heard it from another.

Who thought somebody might have said it.

Mara: So nobody knows.

Billy folds his arms.

Billy: That’s exactly what the monster would want.

Chibi stops eating his apple.

Chibi: Oh.

Mara: What?

Chibi: That’s clever.

Billy smiles.

Billy: Thank you.

Chibi: I wasn’t talking about you.

That afternoon, Tommy stops drawing beetles.

Nobody chooses him for baseball.

Nobody chooses Nancy either.

Mara: Why can’t Nancy play?

Girl: She sat with Tommy.

Mara: So?

The girl whispers:

Girl: What if it’s catching?

Mara: What’s catching?

The girl doesn’t know.

She walks away.

Later, Chibi draws circles in the dirt.

Mara: What’s that?

Chibi: Monsters.

Mara: I thought there was only one.

Chibi: This morning there was.

Seven circles.

Then eight.

Then nine.

Mara: Are you one?

Chibi: Apparently.

Mara: Why?

Chibi: Red hair.

He thinks.

Chibi: Also sarcasm.

The school bell rings.

Suddenly:

Boy: FOUND YOU!

The children surround Tommy.

Billy: We found the monster!

Tommy: I’m not!

Billy: Prove it.

Tommy looks around.

Tommy: How?

Nobody answers.

Tommy: How do I prove I’m not?

Billy: Stop acting suspicious.

Tommy: You’re calling me a monster!

Billy points.

Billy: See? He’s angry.

Mara pushes through the circle.

Mara: He’s not the monster.

Billy: How do you know?

Mara hesitates.

She doesn’t.

Mara: How do you know he is?

Billy points at Tommy.

Billy: Look at him.

Mara does.

A frightened boy holding a schoolbag.

Mara: I am.

A girl whispers:

Girl: Maybe Mara’s helping him.

Chibi sighs.

Then joins her.

Nancy does too.

Another child follows.

Billy stares at them.

Billy: You can’t all be monsters.

Chibi: Why not?

Billy: Because then the game doesn’t work.

Mara looks at him.

Mara: Maybe that’s the problem.

That evening, Mara and Chibi walk home.

Mara: We never found the monster.

Chibi: No.

Mara: Maybe there wasn’t one.

Chibi: Maybe.

Mara looks towards the dark woods beyond the houses.

Mara: What if there really is?

For once, Chibi doesn’t joke.

Chibi: Then we’re in trouble.

Mara: Why?

Chibi looks back towards the playground.

The children are still watching one another.

Chibi: Because nobody’s looking for it anymore.

Far beyond the playground,

something moves between the trees.

It does not come closer.

It doesn’t need to.

The children have learned to watch one another.

CTA — Campaign

What happens when fear becomes a game everyone knows how to play?

Enter Pulp Cthulhu Noir, where suspicion can create a hundred monsters while the real darkness goes unnoticed.

https://startplaying.games/gm/dunchan

CTA — Patreon

Want to go deeper?

Explore the historical, psychological and narrative research behind The Witch Hunt, Inner Fire, and Mythveil’s 1950s noir.

Because once fear teaches us what a monster should look like, we may stop looking for the thing that is actually hurting us.

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