Journey to The Maw: A Little Nightmare

A City's Edge

Mono was engulfed by a cold draft of air as he was spat out of a television set and into a dark room. He heard the TV screen burst behind him, breaking so that nothing could follow him here. He also heard the musical clanking of Six's music box hitting the floor behind him.

He sat up in a hurry, unable to see as something was blocking his vision.

Mono reached his small, child-sized hands up toward his face to feel what was obstructing it. His fingertips brushed against a recognizable crunchy, scratchy surface, and with a little adjusting he could see again.

Somehow he had gotten his paper bag back, even though he had previously discarded it. Mono was unbothered by this logic. His paper bag was familiar, and light, and definitely looked better on his head than that ugly fedora he had been wearing for the past few decades.

Now taking in his surroundings, Mono noted that the shack he was in seemed to be long abandoned. The wooden boards that made up the walls were broken and had shifted away from each other, allowing shafts of moonlight to come in.

The roof had fallen in at the center, planks still sticking out carelessly. Rain pattered into the room, which explained why the rug Mono was sitting on stank of mildew, and why the floorboards were rotted.

Mono leaned forward, palms against the rough ground, and hung his head. His skull ached, rather profusely. He guessed it had something to do with the fact that he had been seven feet tall a moment ago, but was now back to his undersized self— not to mention the ear-splitting frequency that left his right ear bleeding, which still rang even now.

He uttered a drawn out sigh, noticing that something was placed under his right hand. He raised his gaze from the floor to examine the papery object, moving his palm off of it. It was indeed a sheet of paper, though it was yellowed with age and dark spots of moisture clouded some of the page.

Mono sat up again, taking the paper into his hands. On the front side was a drawing. At first he could not tell what on earth it was meant to be. There were waves painted along the bottom of the shape, and smoke seemed to billow from it's top, almost like a ship. Partially diluted by water stains were two words: The Maw.

Pulling the drawing closer to his face, Mono squinted. His tired brain worked overtime to process the simple sketch, being deprived of sleep or general rest.

Mono jumped backwards, slamming into the floor. He crawled further from the page, which was swirling to the ground. Standing above it was the thing that had startled him— Six.

No, Mono told himself firmly, shaking his head, That's not Six. It was but another glitched remnant of his friend, looming over the paper as though thoroughly interested in it.

"Hey..." Mono whispered, and the glitched remains made eye contact with him. A sense of terror filled him as the distorted creature replied, "Hey." The voice was very much unlike Six's. Instead of being quiet, and soft, it was harsh and broken.

Mono backed away along the floor, but this didn't do much to help. The glitched remains stared him down still, and he was very grateful that it didn't move towards him. Instead it bent over and took up the piece of paper. "Pssst!"

The whirring sounds the shadowy figure made still deeply disturbed Mono, but this time he was interested. He stood up slowly, and pointed a shaky finger at the paper it presented him. In return, the glitched remains tapped the drawing on the page's face, letting out another staticky trill.

"The Maw...? I don't understand..." Mono squinted again. The shadowy remains dropped the paper with a seemingly frustrated glitch, pointing at the ground. It was then Mono saw what it wanted him to— a multitude of faint footprints along the splintered floor, partially obstructed by dust.

Mono lost his fear for the glitched remains as he darted forward to examine the tracks more closely. It dawned on him in that moment. Six had definitely been through here, and if he understood the shadowed creature behind him, she was headed to this... Maw.

Bursting with excitement, Mono returned to the television. He grabbed the music box and shoved it inside of his coat. Maybe Six would forgive him if he brought it to her? It was rather uncomfortable to hold under his arm, being as big as it was, but he reckoned it could be the only chance he had of regaining his friend.

Mono scanned the abandoned room for any kind of food, though all he found was a squelchy green morsel of mystery meat. He decided it wasn't worth eating, and began to walk towards the open door to his right.

The moment he stepped past the doorframe, he heard the glitched remains flicker. He turned to look, but the figure had dissipated. Mono wasn't sure if he was relieved or scared to be without it, but he continued to step outside into the rain.

The light was almost blinding after being inside such a dark place for so long. Mono raised his hand, blocking the light from his eyes as he walked on slowly.

The weather clearly hadn't let up— for some odd reason it always seemed to be dark and gloomy in the Pale City. Not to mention horrifying... He didn't dare look back, for he was afraid of his gaze catching on The Transmission. Mono thought he definitely couldn't handle seeing it again, especially without anyone to take his mind off of it.

Passing by a mound of lifeless, faceless beings, Mono looked to his bare feet. He pondered how they felt almost nothing anymore. They had been through so much abuse... or maybe it was just the pain in his ear was distracting him from any other discomfort. The blood had mostly dried, though he was sure it had dripped all down his neck before doing so.