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The Creatures of Merveille: Keep Yourself Informed!
[An illustration of a giant, humanoid ladybug and a green-eyed panther-like creature accompanies the text.]
The creatures found wandering the forests of Merveille may inspire terror and an urge to light pitchforks, but the town’s resident monster expert Alya Césaire is here to set the facts straight!
Despite their monstrous appearances, the creatures (note: if anyone has a better name for them, please contact Alya Césaire at the number below!!!) are, from my experience, not aggressive at all. In fact, when threatened, the creatures retreat into the forest as opposed to attacking the source of their stress. Still, untrained individuals should keep their distance and avoid provoking them!
If approached with recording devices such as phones or cameras, the creatures are likely to flee, but if you go into the forest free from such technology, they will allow you to get pretty damn close! Of course, seeing as I’m the only person in town who’s managed get close, maybe the creatures only allow benevolent people who believe in them to get close. This is pure speculation, of course, as the monsters have been unavailable for an interview. I’m not completely sure whether they can talk.
This concludes this Public Information Flyer. Keep your eyes posted for the next issue, and remember, monsters are as much a part of Merveille’s ecosystem as the birds and the trees!
(Illustration provided by Nathaniel Kurtzberg.)
Luka peered at the flyer that had somehow made its way into his guitar case, then let out a small chuckle. “Hey Juleka, Rose, aren’t you friends with Alya? Is she really this monster crazy, or is she trying playing a prank on the whole town?
Rose popped out of the kitchen carrying a tray of sandwiches and seated herself next to Luka on the couch. “It’s no prank! Ayla’s really determined to study these creatures.”
“And you don’t think it’s weird at all?”
“As long as she doesn’t make us help, I’m fine with it,” Juleka said, joining the two. “It’s good she had something to be so passionate about.”
“Huh,” Luka replied, snagging a sandwich from the plate. “I just hope she doesn’t run into a bear or anything in the forest on her little monster hunt.”
“Oh, don’t worry about Alya,” chuckled Rose. “She knows how to take care of herself. I’d be more scared for you if Alya ever caught you making fun of her.”
Luka shrugged. “I’m just saying, what are the odds of a mutant ladybug roaming the forests if Merveille? Anyway, though, I think I’ll go on a walk so you to can have your ‘alone time’.” He winked at the duo, grabbed his guitar, and dodged the pillow Juleka threw at him on the way out.
Luka gave the flyer another read as the strolled along the beaten paths of Mireille, laughing to himself all the while. “Where on Earth does she get this stuff?”
As ridiculous as it was, Luka had to give Alya credit where credit was due. The premise of gentle monsters living in the woods surrounding their small town was creative, at the very least. Maybe Alya was writing a novel, and she was pretending to hunt monsters to promote it. If so, she had succeeded; there was hardly a single person in the town who wasn’t familiar with Ayla’s monster hunt.
Feeling inspired, Luka pulled out his guitar and began strumming some stray chords. The so-called ‘creatures of Merveille’ were most definitely a hoax, but Luka could feel the start of a song inspired by them coming on. As the creative process took over him, Luka’s feet guided him deeper and deeper into the darkening forest.
Luka only realized how far he’d gone once he dropped his guitar pick and realized it was too dark for him to find it immediately. Looking around him, he wasn’t quite sure which way he had come from.
“Damn it,” he cursed. “Well, I guess I should try to find my way back, huh?” Before he could turn around, however, the sound of a snapping branch echoed like a gunshot through the treetops. Luka’s blood ran cold at the sound, and he slowly willed himself to turn around. Maybe it’s Juleka, he hoped, but even to himself the thought seemed flimsy.
His breath caught in his throat once his eyes fell upon the source of the noise. Red shell, black spots, and almost as tall as him….
Luka owed Alya a pretty big apology.
“You’re...you’re one of the creatures of Merveille,” Luka stammered uselessly. The human-sized ladybug cocked its head, and Luka realized that it wasn’t just a human-sized ladybug he was looking at. Its body seemed slightly human-shaped, and its eyes looked larger and more intelligent than those of an insect. It also didn’t seem to be going anywhere. True to Ayla’s word, it wasn’t trying to attack him, but it wasn’t fleeing either. It just stood there, staring at Luka.
Ever since he was a child, Luka had hated awkward silences. So after several seconds of silence that sounded like an eternity, Luka finally blurred out the first thing that came to mind. “I wrote a song about you...or, well, about you and that panther thing? It doesn’t have words or anything, Rose usually writes those for me, but maybe...you’d like to hear it?” Animals liked music, right? So what’s to say a song from Luka wouldn’t help charm a monster?
The ladybug nodded, and Luka almost dropped his guitar in shock. It understood what he was saying. His situation just kept getting more and more bizarre. Still, the creature’s expectant gaze kept Luka from mulling over that fact for too long, instead prompting him to begin playing the song.
Usually Luka closed his eyes when he played, in order to feel more in sync with the music, but he figured he was as synced as possible with the very inspiration for his newest song standing right in front of him. Instead, he focused on the ladybug’s reactions. It swayed in time to the music, and Luka couldn’t help but feel a flash of pride at knowing that even non-humans could enjoy his music.
Once his fingers strummed the final chords, the ladybug nodded once more and turned to walk back the way it came, gesturing for Luka to follow it. He wasted no time in scampering after it. The walk was long and silent, but Luka didn’t know what to say to the creature. It seemed pretty obvious to him that while it understood French, it couldn’t (or wouldn’t) speak it in return, so any questions Luka wanted to ask it would go unanswered even if he voiced them.
Luka was so lost in thought that he didn’t notice the Ladybug stopping and just barely avoided crashing into its shell. He gave it a quizzical look, but it simply motioned forward. Luka got the message. This was as far as the bug would go. The faraway glow of a streetlight that gleamed at the end of the path was a godsend to Luka, but he supposed there was a reason monsters stayed in the dark for their own well-being. “Thank you, Ladybug,” he murmured, and continued on his way with a wave.
Once he was out of the forest, Luka sucked in a deep breath and nearly collapsed. What the hell just happened to him?
And what was he going to tell Juleka?