a-monster-2
Original: a-monster-2 on Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal
Transcript
Panel 1:
Child (in bed): DAD! THERE'S A MONSTER UNDER MY BED!
Panel 2:
Father: WHAT?!
Panel 3:
Father: BUT... YOUR BEDFRAME IS JUST A FEW THIN PLANKS OF WOOD AND A SOFT FOAM MATTRESS.
Child: MY... GOD.
Panel 4 (narration over the monster's reasoning):
The monster could strike through at any moment. The mattress and sheets offer no protection. They only serve to mask the monster's intentions until its claws burst through the surface.
Panel 5 (narration):
For some reason it's biding its time.
Panel 6 (narration):
Some moral compunction holds it at bay. For the moment.
Panel 7 (narration):
Does it fight back its desires with all its red-clawed strength? Does it weigh conscience against hunger? And if so, which way will the balance tip tonight?
Panel 8 (narration):
Perhaps it resists temptation because it thinks you're a good little boy. A boy who takes out the trash every Tuesday like it says on the chore list.
Panel 9:
Father: IF IT EVER DISCOVERED YOUR TRUE NATURE...
Child: I'LL NEVER FORGET AGAIN! I SWEAR!
Votey:
A single bloodshot red eye on a black background, with a speech bubble reading: Too late
Child (in bed): DAD! THERE'S A MONSTER UNDER MY BED!
Panel 2:
Father: WHAT?!
Panel 3:
Father: BUT... YOUR BEDFRAME IS JUST A FEW THIN PLANKS OF WOOD AND A SOFT FOAM MATTRESS.
Child: MY... GOD.
Panel 4 (narration over the monster's reasoning):
The monster could strike through at any moment. The mattress and sheets offer no protection. They only serve to mask the monster's intentions until its claws burst through the surface.
Panel 5 (narration):
For some reason it's biding its time.
Panel 6 (narration):
Some moral compunction holds it at bay. For the moment.
Panel 7 (narration):
Does it fight back its desires with all its red-clawed strength? Does it weigh conscience against hunger? And if so, which way will the balance tip tonight?
Panel 8 (narration):
Perhaps it resists temptation because it thinks you're a good little boy. A boy who takes out the trash every Tuesday like it says on the chore list.
Panel 9:
Father: IF IT EVER DISCOVERED YOUR TRUE NATURE...
Child: I'LL NEVER FORGET AGAIN! I SWEAR!
Votey:
A single bloodshot red eye on a black background, with a speech bubble reading: Too late
Alt text
A nine-panel comic. A child in bed cries out to his dad that there's a monster under his bed. The dad panics, then notes the bedframe is just thin planks of wood and a soft foam mattress, offering no protection; the child gasps 'MY... GOD.' A long narration over a black void imagines the monster lurking beneath: it could strike at any moment, the mattress and sheets only mask its intentions until its claws burst through, yet it bides its time, held back by some moral compunction. The narration wonders whether the monster fights its red-clawed hunger against its conscience, and suggests it resists temptation because it thinks the boy is good — a boy who takes out the trash every Tuesday as the chore list says. In the final panel the dad warns, 'IF IT EVER DISCOVERED YOUR TRUE NATURE...' and the boy frantically promises, 'I'LL NEVER FORGET AGAIN! I SWEAR!' — implying the boy slacks on chores and only the monster's belief in his goodness keeps him alive. Votey: A single glaring bloodshot red eye floats in darkness, its speech bubble reading 'Too late,' revealing the monster has already learned the truth.
Transcribed by Claude Opus 4.8.