In which Sniper writes a story
Once upon a time there was a pirate
Once upon a time there was a princess
Once upon a time there was a doctor
Once upon a time there was a warrior
Once upon a time there was a samurai
Once upon a time there was a philosopher
Once upon a time, there was a family. This was not a family that had been born together, father to son, mother to daughter. It was a family forged of friendship. This family wasn't very cooperative, because sometimes they would fight over things, small things and big things, and no one in the family was ever perfect, but everyone in the family had something to give, and everyone in the family had a very important dream that gave them guidance when they didn't think they could go on.
Maybe they wouldn't have fought so often if they lived together with all the other families in a peaceful village where they could all live the way they wanted to to raise families of their own, where the sun was hot and bright and the water came in from the sea, fresh and cool. They all knew more peaceful lands where they began, but this place they all met was covered in the shadow of a terrible monster. This monster's shadow blocked out the sun, and he blocked off the sea with his girth and muddied their water. In the night, the monster's evil laughter would get rid of corrupt the silence, and sometimes its entire belly would open up and huge locusts and worms would come out and destroy the people's crops and kill anyone who wasn't able to protect himself.
Some people of this land set out one day to try to vanquish the invader on their land, but found out that when they tried to strike out at it, their hands went through nothing. Some people went out to try to reason with the monster and to present it with gifts so that it would leave, but it had no tongue to speak with, so these people failed too.
Everyone fought even harder. Some people tried to cast magic on it to confuse it, and others threw acid at it to blind it. People rode in on flying horses to rise above it, but they went all the way to the edge of the sky itself and found out that the monster could grow as far as it needed to. The monster reached up to pluck stars and threw them at the warriors. Some tried to light it on fire, but the monster knew how to use fire as a weapon and sucked it into itself and bled lava for the next week. Some people went in with ropes to strangle it, but it stole their ropes from them and beat them against the ground, creating earthquakes. Some people knew how to go inside minds and tried to enter the mind of the monster, but they came out changed and fought against their former comrades. Some tried to smoke it out, but it ate up the smoke like candy and belched it out in huge grey clouds. Some tried to bridge it in with huge metal spikes, but it leaned down and blew the spikes away with great gusts of air.
Soon, everyone decided they would have to live with the monster and they tried their best to ignore it, but it was impossible, because the monster's shadow wrapped around everyone's hearts the same way it did the sun. Mighty warriors came and went, but their swords and guns did no good, and they died. People famous for their brilliance went to trick the monster by digging underneath it and blinding it, but its eyes were everywhere, and they died too. Even though it was very dark, one person in the family brought out a lantern and lit it. She raised it all the way up to the top of a citadel for everyone to see. It was just a dim light, but when everyone saw it, they were so unused to light that it seemed to light up their land like the sun. Everyone came out of their little houses to look at it, and the monster grew angry and sent flocks of ravens and locusts to put out the candle. The sky turned black with it, and the candle went out, but everyone was able to remember that candle.
The girl didn't give up after that, and marched into the middle of the square, right in front of the monster, and put a candle down right there. The people were afraid, but they didn't want to see the girl die, so they came out with their own lit candles and put them down too. The monster became very angry and screamed. It tried to put out the candles, but every time it put one out, someone would light another. To drown out the monster's screams, they began to speak with each other and sing. The monster still blocked out the sun, but there were so many candles that a ball of flame rose from it and blazed as brightly as any sun. The monster tried once more to block out the sight of even their precious village with its long arms, but everyone stayed around the ball of flame and ignored it. With a great scream, the monster began to fade from sight, and as it faded, they could see a light winking at them from beyond the sea, for those outside of their village had been waiting for the day when the monster would finally be destroyed. And that day, it was.
[Now that he's done, he draws the monster peering over the top of the page and its long arms frame the story's margins. It's little more than a swath of dark ink and small red eyes. After a moment, at the bottom of the page, he adds a candle.]
Once upon a time there was a princess
Once upon a time there was a doctor
Once upon a time there was a warrior
Once upon a time there was a samurai
Once upon a time there was a philosopher
Once upon a time, there was a family. This was not a family that had been born together, father to son, mother to daughter. It was a family forged of friendship. This family wasn't very cooperative, because sometimes they would fight over things, small things and big things, and no one in the family was ever perfect, but everyone in the family had something to give, and everyone in the family had a very important dream that gave them guidance when they didn't think they could go on.
Maybe they wouldn't have fought so often if they lived together with all the other families in a peaceful village where they could all live the way they wanted to to raise families of their own, where the sun was hot and bright and the water came in from the sea, fresh and cool. They all knew more peaceful lands where they began, but this place they all met was covered in the shadow of a terrible monster. This monster's shadow blocked out the sun, and he blocked off the sea with his girth and muddied their water. In the night, the monster's evil laughter would get rid of corrupt the silence, and sometimes its entire belly would open up and huge locusts and worms would come out and destroy the people's crops and kill anyone who wasn't able to protect himself.
Some people of this land set out one day to try to vanquish the invader on their land, but found out that when they tried to strike out at it, their hands went through nothing. Some people went out to try to reason with the monster and to present it with gifts so that it would leave, but it had no tongue to speak with, so these people failed too.
Everyone fought even harder. Some people tried to cast magic on it to confuse it, and others threw acid at it to blind it. People rode in on flying horses to rise above it, but they went all the way to the edge of the sky itself and found out that the monster could grow as far as it needed to. The monster reached up to pluck stars and threw them at the warriors. Some tried to light it on fire, but the monster knew how to use fire as a weapon and sucked it into itself and bled lava for the next week. Some people went in with ropes to strangle it, but it stole their ropes from them and beat them against the ground, creating earthquakes. Some people knew how to go inside minds and tried to enter the mind of the monster, but they came out changed and fought against their former comrades. Some tried to smoke it out, but it ate up the smoke like candy and belched it out in huge grey clouds. Some tried to bridge it in with huge metal spikes, but it leaned down and blew the spikes away with great gusts of air.
Soon, everyone decided they would have to live with the monster and they tried their best to ignore it, but it was impossible, because the monster's shadow wrapped around everyone's hearts the same way it did the sun. Mighty warriors came and went, but their swords and guns did no good, and they died. People famous for their brilliance went to trick the monster by digging underneath it and blinding it, but its eyes were everywhere, and they died too. Even though it was very dark, one person in the family brought out a lantern and lit it. She raised it all the way up to the top of a citadel for everyone to see. It was just a dim light, but when everyone saw it, they were so unused to light that it seemed to light up their land like the sun. Everyone came out of their little houses to look at it, and the monster grew angry and sent flocks of ravens and locusts to put out the candle. The sky turned black with it, and the candle went out, but everyone was able to remember that candle.
The girl didn't give up after that, and marched into the middle of the square, right in front of the monster, and put a candle down right there. The people were afraid, but they didn't want to see the girl die, so they came out with their own lit candles and put them down too. The monster became very angry and screamed. It tried to put out the candles, but every time it put one out, someone would light another. To drown out the monster's screams, they began to speak with each other and sing. The monster still blocked out the sun, but there were so many candles that a ball of flame rose from it and blazed as brightly as any sun. The monster tried once more to block out the sight of even their precious village with its long arms, but everyone stayed around the ball of flame and ignored it. With a great scream, the monster began to fade from sight, and as it faded, they could see a light winking at them from beyond the sea, for those outside of their village had been waiting for the day when the monster would finally be destroyed. And that day, it was.
[Now that he's done, he draws the monster peering over the top of the page and its long arms frame the story's margins. It's little more than a swath of dark ink and small red eyes. After a moment, at the bottom of the page, he adds a candle.]