What makes a story a scary story- ?
Is it Gushing Blood, piles of twisted guts, sharp things going into someone’s head?
Really?
As the great Rod Serling said in the opening of his Twilight Zone episodes:
This Story Is For Your Consideration
( and this is a true story )
I ride one of those fancy pants commuter buses with the plus seats and tinted windows to Seattle and back up into the suburbs everyday. For the most part most people don’t read books on these buses- they ” Kindle ” they don’t jot notes to themselves on bookmarks or post- its ( ahem ) they IPAD or IPOD or whatever the hell it is they carry around with them and use for phones ( sometimes).
One day this guy I recognizefrom the homeless shelter across the street from where I work ( and I’m pretty sure I went to school with him- he is a couple of years older than me ) climbs into this safe, cool, ordered Universe takes a seat across the aisle from me and in cloud of fumes that came straight from a can of beer ( the kind you can by as singles ) he proceeded to pass out.
I go to my book, but I sneak peeks at Dave, or Kev or is his name Lance- to make sure he is breathing.
He is.
We’re about 10 minues out of Seattle when I look up because I hear snickering- and what I see suprises me- it was exactly like seeing a pair of hands shoot out from under the bed and yank some poor fool to meet a very messy and unhappy ending.
There are at least a half-dozen well-heeled suburbanites taking pictures of my former classmate passed out while riding a bus back into a town he belongs to as much as they do. And they’re not just taking the pictures- they’re showing them to each other, and they’re laughing now-not just snickering.
Okay- this is the part where you guys get to see the monster.
Is it Dave ( I think his name was Lance ), one of the ‘Burbanites or is it…
I reach down into my purse, pull up my sleek little Point and Click Cannon Sure Shot with the Memory card that holds A LOT of Pictures and hold it up.
N0body really notices-or maybe they just don’t care -until they notice who is getting their picture taken as they are taking pictures of a passed out homeless guy on the bus.
” And I’ve got a blog-” the Monster says ” In fact I’ve got two…and lots of people read them”
That’s the kind of story I find scary.
You don’t know exactly who the monster is, or where it is or who it will strike first…but when it does
BOO.
ANITA'S OWL CREEK BRIDGE 
Monsters take all forms, that is for sure! You post speaks volumnes. Thank you for the reminder that there are monsters everywhere!
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Here’s to hoping Sally 🙂
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Wikepedia says that a monster is any fictional creature, usually found in legends or horror fiction, that is often hideous and may produce fear or physical harm by either its appearance or its actions. The word “monster” derives from Latin monstrum, an aberrant occurrence, usually biological, that was taken as a sign that something was wrong within the natural order. The word connotes something wrong or evil; a monster is generally morally objectionable, physically or psychologically hideous, and/or a freak of nature. It can also be applied figuratively to a person with similar characteristics like a greedy person or a person who does horrible things.
Your piece affirms the breadth of this definition to encompass things like greedy people in fancy restaurants leaving most of the food on the plate while someone else goes hungry. But! Don’t get me started 🙂 Some days I see them everywhere and they invariably take a human form.
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Human monsters have always made better subjects- I just can’t bring myself to portray an accident of nature as something wrong or evil. I suppose what scares me is when people chose to do the wrong thing, the thing that they know will be bring terror or pain. How can anything be more frightening than that?
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Love it!
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Thank you!
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Monsters can be found everywhere though you are likely not to recognize them. They can be your next door neighbor, a co-worker, or the local delivery man or woman. The fairer sex are not immune to the monster gene. We need always be aware. Good for you confronting them with your camera…that took courage on your part..
Vi
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Outstanding! Let’s just hope at least one of these ‘Burbites had an enlightened moment. And you asked what’s the point of blogging…
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