THE MONSTER

 

Sunday January 12 - 1814 CST

Three days until Turbocharger activates

 

This world was strange to me. I was not here by choice. It was ruled by odd fleshy creatures that walked upright on two legs like birds. They had brought me here against my will. And like birds, their flesh was tasty.

Though this world was strange some things were familiar. It was damp, warm, and overgrown with plants as was my own home world. Many plants meant there were many plant eaters. Plant eaters made the best prey. Their flesh was infused with the nutrients that provided me with strength and speed.

But of the prey animals of this world the one's that tickled my taste buds most were the ruling species. They clucked at eachother as a way of communicating and held their flesh upright with an internal skeleton of thick bones. On my own world only the prey did this. Predators like my own species had an external skeleton. A shell of armor-like plates that held our flesh safely protected within.

These strange prey-like mammals also had hunters among them. They skulked the swamps, sometimes in boats and sometimes on foot. Many wore coverings made to imitate the foliage around them and carried weapons that could kill from a distance.

I knew enough to leave those alone. They would fight back or run away and bring back others to hunt me. But there were also those with the mind of prey animals. I had found a way to distinguish the two, and it was deviously simple. I would snap a twig in two and watch their reaction.

SNAP!

The two walking along a trail not more than twenty paces away stopped dead in their tracks and looked in my direction. This would be the moment of the truth. Their reaction would let me know if they would run and get others—others with weapons—or if these were prey.

One of them clucked in it's strange language and pointed at me with a fleshy arm bulging with delicious meat. The other clucked back with a higher pitched tone. Perhaps it was concerned or worried. Regardless it did not run away as was prudent. These two needed some prodding. I broke another twig.

SNAP!

The larger of the two stepped forward. Perfect. This one had the prey animal mindset and would not flee at the first sign of danger. My stomachs wriggled with the sense of an impending meal.

Another step closer, then another, and another. There was no fear in this one. How long must this species have lived free of predation to lack such a basic instinct? It must have been eons. This would be a perfect world to raise offspring on. They would feast freely for generations on these unwise creatures. Perhaps it wasn't such a bad thing to have been pulled to this strange world.

The creature crouched down just before me with a look of curiosity in its odd single faceted eyes. Those eyes looked like a pair of little white eggs with a single pupil each. How very unusual they were.

I made a cooing sound like the night calls of the small herbivores I hunted on my own world. That made the creature's mouth turn upward in a gesture I didn't understand. It waved its companion closer and then did the strangest thing. Retrieving a small satchel from the larger one on its back it poured forth a pile of morsels that smelled like crushed plant matter.

The creature was offering me its food.

How foolish it was to give me its fodder of crushed plant life. I am a carnivore and crave only one thing: the flesh of my prey. The game I was playing with these prey grew tiring, it was time to end it.

I tossed off the matted grass I'd weaved together to cover the length of my body and the smaller prey screamed. The taller one turned to flee but wasn't particularly fast. My mandibles sunk into his throat where they found arteries swollen with pressurized blood. There was no point in injecting venom since it needed blood flow to circulate. That flow ended when I tore the veins open. The creature fell to the ground under my weight and clutched helplessly at its ventilated throat while blood sprayed like a geyser.

All the while its companion stood frozen, shrieking loudly. I turned my attention to it. Because if I wanted to enjoy my two meals in peace I would need to silence them both.

When that creature finally went dead in my mandibles I took my time. My stomachs would be filled soon and I wanted to enjoy the moment.