Lion
It had been many years since Steve had left Rothfuss. After he had poisoned the cats, his mind became clear, and he regained himself. Since then, he had transformed from a crazy, twitchy, goat-scented hobo into an upstanding citizen with a wife and three kids. Life was great. Until the day he took his family to the zoo.
It was a beautiful Sunday. The sky was blue, with little wisps of white fluffy clouds here and there, and the city was blossoming with color. As Steve smelled the fresh air, he remembered that his children had brought home tickets to the zoo.
"Pid, where did you put the tickets the school gave to you?" he asked his daughter.
"I don't know. I gave it to Mom," Pid said.
"They're right here," said Ms. Duem, waving them in her hand.
"What are you gonna do with them?" Stu asked.
"Well, you see, we're going to the zoo!" Steve responded as jiggled his son his arms.
His children laughed as they packed up for the zoo. It was a bit confusing, as Ms. Duem kept double checking everything and the children kept messing up. But eventually, they were able to pack up and pile into the car.
On the way to the zoo, Steve thought about the different activities that could be done, what places they could visit, and the animals they could see. As he was thinking about the animals, something popped into his mind that he had not thought about in a long time. Big Mon. His mind dampened with dread as he recalled his life on the streets. He looked around the car, making sure that Big Mon wasn't there, before setting his eyes back on the highway.
The family soon arrived at the zoo. As Steve unbuckled the baby seat for his youngest, he suddenly remembered Big Mon again. Steve held his child closely, as if something would just pop up and swipe it away from him in an instant. He plopped the baby into his wife's arms before putting on a happy facade and continuing on.
The zoo wasn't packed to the brim as Steve expected. Steve usually would have been happy about this, but someothing about it was simply offputting. Steve mentally swept this feeling away, before returning his attention to his family.
"Stu, Pid, where do you guys wanna go?" Steve asked.
"I wanna go see the lions and ride one!" Stu said.
"You can't ride one, Stu," Pid said, "it's gonna eat you up and then Mom's gonna be sad."
"What do you think we should do then, smarty pants?" Stu mocked.
"We could, you know, watch it from outside of the fence, dum dum," Pid said, annoyed.
"Daaaaaad! Pid called me a dum dum!" Stu yelled as he pointed at his sister.
Steve's eyes looked down at his children. "Stop arguing. And Pid, we don't use this kind of language in this family, understand?"
Pid glared at her brother. "Ok."
"So it's settled! We're going to the see the lions first. Pid, I'm sure that there's gonna be something along the way that you'll like" Ms. Deum assured her daughter.
The happy fivesome walked their way to the lion enclosure. Just like her mother had predicted, Pid did see things that interested her, such as colorful birds and lizards. Steve smiled brightly the entire way, watching his children point excitedly at different enclosures with faces as bright as the sun.
As they sat down on a metal picnic table for lunch, Steve began to overhear some grizzly things from the table behind him. He began to understand why there were fewer people at the zoo.
"Did you hear about the girl who was found dead on Fletchler's Field?" the man asked.
"What? No!" his friend responded.
"They say they found her burned alive. They be saying that some demon infected her. The school nurse and the poor girl's friends say that some black thing was infecting her and crawling up her arm!" the man said.
"You're lying, right?" his friend said.
"Nah, it's all true. You can go to Fletchler's Field to check it yourself. It's true!" he said.
Steve found what he was hearing strange, but it didn't bother him too much. He brushed it aside and hurried his family.
"Come on kids! If you want to see the lions faster, then eat faster!" Ms. Duem said.
The children proceeded to shove as many french fries and chicken nuggets into their mouths, They ate so much that they were beginning to look like hamsters.
"Kids, don't eat so sloppily," Ms. Duem scolded, "and don't eat so fast, unless you want to end up in the hopsital."
When the children finally finished with their lunch, they began to walk towards the lion enclosure in the warm afternoon sun. The pathway to the lions was filled with the chitter chatter of families and animal sounds. Steve bathed in the loud, but relaxing atmosphere of the zoo. It was nice.
Steve's family finally arrived at the lion enclosure. The enclosure was a large one, with glass on the side where visitors would look, and many things to climb and cool off inside. In this enclosure sat two dusty tan lions.
"Lions! I want one Dad! Can I buy one? I promise I'll take super good care of it!" Pid said.
"Honey, lions aren't meant to be pets. And I don't think having a lion around would be safe for our family," Ms. Duem explained calmly.
Pid sighed, realizing that she would never be able to have a lion as a pet. Steve didn't notice this. He was instead watching the lions. He found them graceful, but fierce. There was just this simple beauty about the big cats.
Then, the male swerved its head towards Steve. The two stared at each other. Steve quivered as he recognized where the beady black eyes came from. They were the eyes of Big Mon. The world was spinning. Everything was spiraling out of control. The world became nothing more than menancing blue and purple swirls with little specks of white in between. At the center of the swirls was Big Mon, but in his cat form.
"I told you that I would destroy you," he said in a deep but unsettling voice.
"N-No! This isn't real. This isn't real," Steve said to himself.
Then, Steve felt a pull on his sleeve. Steve looked down, still in fear.
"Dad! What's going on? Are you ok?" Pid asked.
At this point, his entire family was staring at him with worried eyes. Steve took a deep breath, and asked if they could go home. They agreed, but were still worried.
"Why were you just standing like that near that lion?" his wife asked.
"It's eyes just reminded me of something from the past," he said.
His wife was still worried, but not as much anymore. On the drive back to the house, she slowly returned back to her serene self.
Their evening continued as a normal Sunday evening would. After dinner, Ms. Duem put the baby down and retired to the couch to watch some TV with the children. Steve was in the kitchen washing the dishes. He was humming his favorite song, when he suddenly remembered what he saw at the zoo.
He found that he was shivering in the warm summer evening. Then, a loud crash came from the living room. Steve dropped the plate he was cleaning and started to run to the living room. He grabbed the gun that hung on the wall and arrived at the living room door. His mouth widened, and his body trembled in fear once again. Big Mon had broken into his house, in his lion form.
His wife grabbed the two older children, but was unable to grab the baby. Big Mon had blocked the path to where the baby was laying. Steve pointed the gun at Big Mon's head. Amazingly, he wasn't spiraling out of control like he would have been.
"I'm going to end you once and for all!" Steve said with anger.
He was about to shoot, and end the cause of his pain and suffering, when it suddenly snatched up the baby. His child cried and screamed as it dangled from Big Mon's long teeth. Steve's family looked at him, their eyes glazed with horror. Big Mon smiled cruelly, before taking off with the child, and leaving Steve's family and life in ruins.
It was a beautiful Sunday. The sky was blue, with little wisps of white fluffy clouds here and there, and the city was blossoming with color. As Steve smelled the fresh air, he remembered that his children had brought home tickets to the zoo.
"Pid, where did you put the tickets the school gave to you?" he asked his daughter.
"I don't know. I gave it to Mom," Pid said.
"They're right here," said Ms. Duem, waving them in her hand.
"What are you gonna do with them?" Stu asked.
"Well, you see, we're going to the zoo!" Steve responded as jiggled his son his arms.
His children laughed as they packed up for the zoo. It was a bit confusing, as Ms. Duem kept double checking everything and the children kept messing up. But eventually, they were able to pack up and pile into the car.
On the way to the zoo, Steve thought about the different activities that could be done, what places they could visit, and the animals they could see. As he was thinking about the animals, something popped into his mind that he had not thought about in a long time. Big Mon. His mind dampened with dread as he recalled his life on the streets. He looked around the car, making sure that Big Mon wasn't there, before setting his eyes back on the highway.
The family soon arrived at the zoo. As Steve unbuckled the baby seat for his youngest, he suddenly remembered Big Mon again. Steve held his child closely, as if something would just pop up and swipe it away from him in an instant. He plopped the baby into his wife's arms before putting on a happy facade and continuing on.
The zoo wasn't packed to the brim as Steve expected. Steve usually would have been happy about this, but someothing about it was simply offputting. Steve mentally swept this feeling away, before returning his attention to his family.
"Stu, Pid, where do you guys wanna go?" Steve asked.
"I wanna go see the lions and ride one!" Stu said.
"You can't ride one, Stu," Pid said, "it's gonna eat you up and then Mom's gonna be sad."
"What do you think we should do then, smarty pants?" Stu mocked.
"We could, you know, watch it from outside of the fence, dum dum," Pid said, annoyed.
"Daaaaaad! Pid called me a dum dum!" Stu yelled as he pointed at his sister.
Steve's eyes looked down at his children. "Stop arguing. And Pid, we don't use this kind of language in this family, understand?"
Pid glared at her brother. "Ok."
"So it's settled! We're going to the see the lions first. Pid, I'm sure that there's gonna be something along the way that you'll like" Ms. Deum assured her daughter.
The happy fivesome walked their way to the lion enclosure. Just like her mother had predicted, Pid did see things that interested her, such as colorful birds and lizards. Steve smiled brightly the entire way, watching his children point excitedly at different enclosures with faces as bright as the sun.
As they sat down on a metal picnic table for lunch, Steve began to overhear some grizzly things from the table behind him. He began to understand why there were fewer people at the zoo.
"Did you hear about the girl who was found dead on Fletchler's Field?" the man asked.
"What? No!" his friend responded.
"They say they found her burned alive. They be saying that some demon infected her. The school nurse and the poor girl's friends say that some black thing was infecting her and crawling up her arm!" the man said.
"You're lying, right?" his friend said.
"Nah, it's all true. You can go to Fletchler's Field to check it yourself. It's true!" he said.
Steve found what he was hearing strange, but it didn't bother him too much. He brushed it aside and hurried his family.
"Come on kids! If you want to see the lions faster, then eat faster!" Ms. Duem said.
The children proceeded to shove as many french fries and chicken nuggets into their mouths, They ate so much that they were beginning to look like hamsters.
"Kids, don't eat so sloppily," Ms. Duem scolded, "and don't eat so fast, unless you want to end up in the hopsital."
When the children finally finished with their lunch, they began to walk towards the lion enclosure in the warm afternoon sun. The pathway to the lions was filled with the chitter chatter of families and animal sounds. Steve bathed in the loud, but relaxing atmosphere of the zoo. It was nice.
Steve's family finally arrived at the lion enclosure. The enclosure was a large one, with glass on the side where visitors would look, and many things to climb and cool off inside. In this enclosure sat two dusty tan lions.
"Lions! I want one Dad! Can I buy one? I promise I'll take super good care of it!" Pid said.
"Honey, lions aren't meant to be pets. And I don't think having a lion around would be safe for our family," Ms. Duem explained calmly.
Pid sighed, realizing that she would never be able to have a lion as a pet. Steve didn't notice this. He was instead watching the lions. He found them graceful, but fierce. There was just this simple beauty about the big cats.
Then, the male swerved its head towards Steve. The two stared at each other. Steve quivered as he recognized where the beady black eyes came from. They were the eyes of Big Mon. The world was spinning. Everything was spiraling out of control. The world became nothing more than menancing blue and purple swirls with little specks of white in between. At the center of the swirls was Big Mon, but in his cat form.
"I told you that I would destroy you," he said in a deep but unsettling voice.
"N-No! This isn't real. This isn't real," Steve said to himself.
Then, Steve felt a pull on his sleeve. Steve looked down, still in fear.
"Dad! What's going on? Are you ok?" Pid asked.
At this point, his entire family was staring at him with worried eyes. Steve took a deep breath, and asked if they could go home. They agreed, but were still worried.
"Why were you just standing like that near that lion?" his wife asked.
"It's eyes just reminded me of something from the past," he said.
His wife was still worried, but not as much anymore. On the drive back to the house, she slowly returned back to her serene self.
Their evening continued as a normal Sunday evening would. After dinner, Ms. Duem put the baby down and retired to the couch to watch some TV with the children. Steve was in the kitchen washing the dishes. He was humming his favorite song, when he suddenly remembered what he saw at the zoo.
He found that he was shivering in the warm summer evening. Then, a loud crash came from the living room. Steve dropped the plate he was cleaning and started to run to the living room. He grabbed the gun that hung on the wall and arrived at the living room door. His mouth widened, and his body trembled in fear once again. Big Mon had broken into his house, in his lion form.
His wife grabbed the two older children, but was unable to grab the baby. Big Mon had blocked the path to where the baby was laying. Steve pointed the gun at Big Mon's head. Amazingly, he wasn't spiraling out of control like he would have been.
"I'm going to end you once and for all!" Steve said with anger.
He was about to shoot, and end the cause of his pain and suffering, when it suddenly snatched up the baby. His child cried and screamed as it dangled from Big Mon's long teeth. Steve's family looked at him, their eyes glazed with horror. Big Mon smiled cruelly, before taking off with the child, and leaving Steve's family and life in ruins.