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A Place For Monsters
Morgan 2021
[[Play!]]You idly sit in your house doing nothing more productive than scrolling through your phone. A message ping follows a floating box of text that appears on your screen. Its your friend. You two are fairly close.
You click on it reading the bright text displayed on the screen.
"Hey, I'm going to the store but I don't want to go alone. Wanna come?" The text reads.
"Sure. Meet on the corner?"
"Great! See you in 5 mins :)"
You get up, put on your shoes, and [[head for the door]]It's a hot summer evening in this nowhere town that you live in. The sky is cast in pinks and oranges as the sun fades into the horizon. A few of the brighter stars are visible among soft streaks of clouds. There is no breeze to save you from the damp evening air that clings to your skin. The sound of your own footsteps is heavy and slow as you arrive at the street corner where you agreed to meet your friend. They are already standing there patiently waiting for your arrival. Your friend has on a massive sun hat, long sleeves, and sunglasses despite it being in the middle of summer and later in the evening. They spy you and wave wildly in your direction. You quicken your steps as you approach.
"Should we get going?" They say as they gesture down the street.
"Yeah." You nod your head and start following them. Fortunately, you live close to the shopping district so everything you ever need is an [[easy walk away.]]Walking your way to the shopping district you and your friend chat to one another to fill the time. Before you know it, you find yourself in the familiar ring of buildings with their bright neon signs and cheesy pop music playing from outside loudspeakers. Its unusually busy for this time of day. You suppose it because it is the weekend and plenty of people just got off work.
As you walk through the district to the grocery store you can't help but feel watched as you chat with your friend. Maybe it's just a complex. Maybe your being too defensive. Maybe its nothing, but you can't stop yourself noticing every lingering stare. Not on you, but your company. It doesn't seem like your friend even notices people staring. Maybe their used to it?
Either way, you see the grocery store just up ahead and [[enter it]] with haste. All these people make you uneasy.Detecting your movement, the store door slides open obediently. The reflective linoleum tiles and bright artificial lights shock your senses. Taking a few steps in you notice there is no one by your side. You turn around to see your friend lingering by the door. "What’s wrong?" you ask.
They gesture at the door. "No door greeter. I can't enter." They say, shrugging in resignation.
You recall your friend mentioning this before. They are a Vampire; therefore, they cannot cross a threshold without being given explicit permission, lest they fall and cannot move.
"Right! Sorry, I forgot! let’s go [[somewhere else]]..." You stutter stepping out of the store and back to your friend.Your friend leads you to another store just off the edge of the larger collection of buildings. You have never been here. Its a cute little organic food store decorated in cheery greens and pastels. As you approach and begin to open the doors the cashier welcomes you in. Your friend cheerily steps into the establishment.
As you enter you notice a security camera screen visible overhead. You wave at it watching yourself wave back on the video. Your friend isn't visible on the camera footage. It makes you wonder if that’s why they don’t go out shopping alone. Maybe to avoid suspicion?
Fidgety movement catches your eye breaking you out of your thoughts. You see your friend waving you over from one of the refrigerator aisles. You [[make your way over to them]]."I just need a few small things, it should be quick." They say as you trot over to them. On your way over you catch eyes with a man staring intently at the both of you. He has a full cart with two children running wildly around it. One of the two children approach the isle you’re in, but before they could enter they are called back by the man. He picks them up and places them into the overflowing cart, eyeing you the entire time. You roll your eyes as he passes and [[scan the goods on the shelf]].The cool air coming off the aisle is a nice refreshment. You glance at bottles of various juices and whatnot displaying their bright organic, vegan, non-gmo logos obnoxiously across the packaging. You look as your friend begins to grab an abundance of coconut water. You realize that you have become the basket as there is suddenly armfuls of small cartons placed in your arms. You stare in mild confusion between your friend and the beverages.
“Why so much?” you ask.
“It’s a meal replacement. Instead of drinking blood directly you can make a preeeeetty good cocktail out of coconut water and some supplements. Unfortunately, it doesn’t sustain me for as long, but it’s a better alternative.” They smile, handing you more.
It makes you think for a moment. It must be difficult not be able to eat what you would like to. "Does it bother you?" You ask.
"Not really. I just have to be more mindful about what I eat. I guess sometimes it would be nice to be more careless...but...eat to live, not live to eat!"
The aisle now cleared of its coconut products you both [[move on to another aisle]].As your walking you spy some of your favorite chips, Pita Thins, on one of the shelves.
“Hey, wanna share some chips?” You say while reaching for the bag with one of your free fingers.
“Sorry, I’m allergic” They gesture to the front of the package.
“Right. Garlic and herb. Sorry.” You say, letting the bag go. They giggle.
“That //and// the gluten. It’s okay, it’s easy to forget.” They shrug, grabbing a few more things before you both move to the self-checkout stand and [[leave]]. “Thanks for coming, I just don’t like going alone.” They say, giving you a hug.
“Anytime. Sorry about the door thing, I’ll have to remember that.”
“I get it,” They smile again. “Just small things I have to live with. It’s no big deal.”
You stop, gripping your friend firmly by the shoulders.
“No, it is a big deal. I want to spend time with you. I can’t do that if I keep forgetting what you need.”
They smile softly and hug you again. [["Thanks."->End]]Thanks for playing! <3
Since some disabilities are portrayed as bad and monstrous in the media i thought it would be fun to create an allegory for disability accessibility by using literal monsters as the protagonists. In the same way a wheelchair user cant make it up every flight of stairs, a vampire can't cross every threshold.
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