I cheered with the other women around me. My arm was sore from holding my sign for so long, but I persisted nonetheless. I persisted because this was a major issue that people needed to recognize. This rally was going to make it known.
As I stood with my sign, I felt someone bump me. It was a larger woman who didn’t see me over the sea of people. I scraped the ground but tried to ignore the pain in my forearms and hands. I grabbed my sign before it could be trampled and was standing up when I heard the sound that would haunt me for the rest of my life.
A guttural roar sounded from far behind the group, closer to the shore line. I whipped around to see what thing made that sound. All I saw was a daunting shadow covering the sun before the crowd of women were pushing forward. I was forced forward and almost trampled by multiple people. My sign had long since been gone and torn up.
When I managed to step into a side street, I stopped to take off my heels. My feet were hurting from running in them, but I hadn’t originally planned to go to the women’s rally. I had wanted to, but my strict misogynistic boss wouldn’t let me take a day off. It was my friend, Lucy, who had convinced me to leave a note on my desk and ditch.
I had long since lost Lucy in the crowd. Luckily, we took my car, so we could meet up there.
I passed by a TV store on my way back to my car. Blood rushed from my face, and my head started to spin. I couldn’t read the text under the broadcaster anymore, as everything started to spin. All I saw was a bloody mess of the square where we were protesting and an image of a giant creature. The broadcaster called it a monster. I quickly looked away from all the bloodshed and regained my composure. I had to make sure Lucy was okay.
When I reached my car, Lucy wasn’t there. She had to be on her way, though. I decided to wait for her. I couldn’t leave her.
An hour passed without any site of Lucy. I saw lots of women running away and shouting about the monster. As a lady went by, she yelled, “The monster turned back. It’s coming this way!” I quickly looked around for Lucy. I couldn’t leave her here. Not with a monster here. Although, I still couldn’t believe that a monster was real. I checked my watch when I felt the earth rumbling beneath me. My first thought was that it was an earthquake until I heard another haunting roar. I looked towards the end of the street and saw a foreboding, huge monster. It resembled a dinosaur in a way.
That’s when I heard a voice I recognized as Lucy: “Sasha, start the car! We have to go!”
I blinked at her words before I hurried into action. I jumped into the car and turned it on. I readied the car for our getaway. That’s when the monster spotted Lucy running towards the car. It turned our way and took huge steps toward her.
“Lucy, hurry!” I shouted.
That’s when Lucy made the devastating mistake of turning around. I watched in slow motion as she tripped on a piece of uneven cement. She threw her arms out to catch herself, but before she could get back up the monster was on her. It plucked her off the ground with its ginormous mouth and chomped down on her, spilling blood.
My mouth dropped. I wanted to look away but I couldn’t. I couldn’t move or breathe. I thought I heard a scream. It might have been me. I’m not sure anymore–not when all I could hear was the crunch of my best friend’s bones and saw the gush of her ruby-red blood.
As the monster swallowed, it walked away. It seemed Lucy’s misfortune saved me. Without my best friend, my only friend, I didn’t know what to do. Lucy was the person I shared everything with: my apartment, my food, my stories. I thought of all the poor families who won’t see their mothers or their daughters again. They didn’t deserve to know this kind of loss. No one does.
I drove by the TV store again. It read, “Monster spotted on Helm St”. I carefully maneuvered the car around crushed bodies and trampled cars. I tried not to look too closely at the faces of those killed. I lost track of how many bodies I passed. So many graves to dig and so many lives to mourn.
When I reached Helm Street I saw the monster sniffing around. I turned on my headlights and honked at it. Its head jerked up to lay its beady eyes on me. I accelerated the car towards the monster. In response, it charged toward me, roaring. When it reached me I let it grab the car. It tried to shake me out, but before it could I grabbed my pocket knife. I had decided that there was no other way to kill this monster than from the inside. I wouldn’t allow more people to die and more graves to be dug. When I was finally shaken from the car, I went flying down into the monster’s mouth. Its grainy tongue was my first target. I sank my knife into its tongue and its slimy esophagus as I went down. The monster instantly tried to dislodge me and throw me back up. I held on tight and continued to cut down into its esophagus which smelled metallic from all the blood. The monster roared until it couldn’t anymore. I made sure that no one else could get hurt.
The only problem with my plan was that I was stuck in the monster’s corpse. The smell was suffocating. I could only smell drying blood as I replayed the screams of its victims. I knew I wasn’t making it out, and I was okay with that. I knew that should be bad, but I knew I would be with Lucy. She would tell me how proud she was, and we could continue laughing together forever. We would laugh with all the other victims of the monster. That’s why I drove the knife into me. For Lucy and all those who were victimized by the monster.
