The Monster in Whiteside

"Ok, well, it's all about a town legend, isn't it?" She asked the question like it was common knowledge. "The Shaggy Man. The White Devil. He's got loads of names, dear."

"Right," Calvin said, hurriedly scribbling. "But what exactly is it? It's a monster, right? Like bigfoot?"

She shrugged her shoulders.

"A bit, I mean they're both big, hairy, ape-things, but that's it. The White Devil is so much more than that."

Looking up from his scratch pad, he urged her on.

"How so?"

"Well, the Shaggy Man is a part of our town's history. He's been here as long as we have. Perhaps longer, if you were to ask the Indians. Who knows?"

"So you celebrate the Shaggy Man like a local celebrity, then?"

"Now we do," she said, looking at her watch. Deciding she had a few more seconds at least, she continued. "I'm sure at first it wasn't like that. My mom actually told me once, long ago, that the celebration was supposed to be for him, not for us."

"For him?"

"Yeah, like a sort of appeasement thing, or something. See, he's not bigfoot. He's not. He's something smarter, if you believe the legends. Something much smarter than bigfoot."

"So, more than an animal?"

She started to leave, but nodded as she walked.

"Yes," she said, trying to turn away. "I'm really sorry but I just have to go, right now."

Clicking his pen, Calvin tried to hide his disappointment.

"Wait," he asked, his face dour. "Can I ask you one more question?"

'I am so sorry, I can't. I have to go, I'm sorry."

She was already half a block away when he called out to her.

"No problem, thanks for talking to me!"

She didn't respond, but the day was still young and there were still so many to talk to.

--

The parade was lively.

Candy flew out of muscle cars, and although the band was only about sixty-seventy strong, the Whiteside Marching Lions played proud and clear. Calvin watched as they marched past, and listened as their music strangely faded instrument by instrument. Trumpets, saxophones, trombones and drums all peeled away, and the roar of the crowd took their place.

Calvin looked. The Shaggy Man had arrived.

The suit looked new, fresh, with fur as white as snow. That fur sprouted in thick bands from the toes to the head, covering whatever face might have been underneath. The fur bounced and tossed around with every motion the actor made, and Calvin wondered if the man underneath was actually seven feet tall. He also wondered how hot it was inside the suit.

Even so, the actor underneath played the part well. Tall and imposing, he moved about like a man possessed, playing celebrity. The adults loved him, but the children were split. They treated him like a clown; half of the children laughed and smiled when he came their way, but the other half was terrified. They'd curl up in their mothers' arms, and they'd cry and scream.

The Shaggy Man strolled past Calvin who watched from the back of the sidewalk, on the corner of the opera house. The Shaggy Man ignored him completely in favor of those closer to the road. He targeted the children specifically.

He was the main attraction, but he certainly wasn't the end of the parade. That would go on for another ten minutes but it was all so surprising. Calvin scribbled his thoughts down into his notebook. A simple local legend, but it was obviously more than that. People cheered as the Shaggy Man walked their way.