“In the movie there were. But they weren’t monsters like we’re used to thinking of them,” another man says.
“So you think those monsters were real?” the first man says. “In the movie?”
The guy he’s talking to shifts on his lawn chair to look at him more fully. “You don’t?”
“I just assumed it was all part of the kid’s imagination.”
“But there were multiple kids,” Muriel says.
“There were?”
I look at Nora. She’s got the microphone cradled to her chest, and she’s watching the group talk with a smile on her face.
“Did you believe in monsters as a kid?” a man to our right asks the people around him.
At least, I think that’s who he asks. He’s not talking to the group, who is still debating if the monsters in the movie were real or in the little girl’s head, or imaginary for everyone in some existential commentary on how we let our fears become too big and real sometimes.
“I did,” a woman with bright red curls says. “I wassurethat werewolves and vampires were real.”
“Are vampires monsters?” Patty asks.
“How are theynotmonsters?” the redhead asks.
“Well, they look like humans, right?” Patty asks. “And aren’t they human before they get turned? I think of monsters like the ones in the movie. They’re always monsters. Not something else that turns into something.”
“Werewolves are human before they turn into werewolves, right?” someone else asks.
“I think so. Do they get bit too? Like vampires?”
“Yes. And like zombies.”
“What about Godzilla and King Kong?” someone new asks. “Are they monsters?”
“Well, obviously,” Muriel replies.
“Why obviously? What makes a monster a monster? Because Godzilla is a gigantic dinosaur or something, right? And KingKong is a gigantic gorilla. Is something a monster just because it’sbig?”
“Monster trucks are really big,” a man further back says.
“So the word monster just means big?” Patty asks. “Don’t they also have to be scary?”
“Yes!” a few people chorus.
“For sure,” a woman says. “I have a gigantic dog, but he’s the biggest marshmallow ever. Definitely not scary, and not a monster!”
Several people laugh.
“Movies with dogs in them are always the best,” someone off to the left and back says.
There’s a lot of nodding.
I feel my eyebrows arching.
But I can’t stop watching Nora.
She’s glowing.
She fucking loves this. She’s clearly in her element.
