music monster mini adventures episode 10: the biggest heart of all

8/14/2019 Music Monster Mini Adventures Episode 10: The Biggest Heart of All

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Taro was normally a good boy. He obeyed his parents and gave good advice to others. Because

he was responsible, he would babysit his cousins every now and then and try to make certain situations

better before they get worse. At least, he used to be that way.

Lately, Taro hadn‟t been himself. Every night, he would practice with his rock band, but often

didn‟t come home until very late. When he did come home, he would collapse on the couch and not wake

up until 10 AM. He mouthed off to his parents whenever they talked to him and he spent most of his freetime alone where others couldn‟t see what he was doing.

One day, a report card came in the mail and Taro‟s parents , Kano (from the first novel) and

Haruko, were the first to see it. Needless to say, there wasn‟t any good news in that envelope; most of his

grades were written in red, the “danger” color. Haruko and Kano were quite startled by this message.

The events in the past few weeks told them that Taro‟s behavior had changed for the worse.

“This can‟t be good,” said Haruko, “Maybe television really is dumbing down our kids.”

“You blame everything on television,” said Kano, “The only

way to find out what he is doing is to talk to him ourselves.”

Haruko and Kano made their way up to Taro‟s r oom, which

would normally be off limits except for the fact that they were his

parents. Entering the room seemed almost as intimidating as entering

a dungeon, since this was a private place where they would probably

be scolded for intruding. Taro sat there reading a graphic novel – an

innocent activity. He peered up from his pages to see his mother and

father holding a sheet of paper. He didn‟t scold them, but he sighed

from knowing that they invaded his personal space.

“Can we talk to you, honey?” ask ed Haruko in the most sugary

sweet voice possible.

“What is it?” asked Taro. He had an assertive tone in his voice, like an angry teacher.

“Honey, we‟re not mad, just disappointed. Your report card came today and it looks as though

your grades have been… suffering.” Taro didn‟t seem to care. To him, school was next to nothing. “Taro,” said Kano, “We‟re starting to think that you spend too much time with your friends,

especially on school nights. What exactly do you do with them for all those hours anyway?”

“None of your business, that‟s what!” said Taro. He threw the book on the floor as a way to get

his parents frightened, but it only made them angry.

“Listen here, young man!” said Haruko, “You will not talk like that to your father!”

“Why does this matter? Maybe I‟m not good at school, just like how I‟m not good at chess!”

Taro‟s mother and father weren‟t the only ones who

were concerned about him. Hiroko stood at the foot of the stairs

and listened to everything. It was silent enough so that she

could hear every detail, right down to the footsteps. She, too,

noticed the alteration of her brother‟s behavior and wanted to do

something about it since he was her role model.

Barthy the glylin was sitting on the couch and watching

the holographic television screen. After Hiroko became sick of

hearing her family argue, she decided to join her monster. Their

minds weren‟t completely going to waste like Haruko thought –

it was an educational program.



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“You are watching Music Monster Planet,” said the announcer, “Now we return to „Walking with

Boomerackies.‟” On the television, two monsters that looked like dinosaurs with deer features crossed

paths.

“Two males have spotted each other and are competing for the same female,” said the announcer

(who sounded a bit like Eric Idle), “They will butt heads to prove their strength and masculinity.” The

two boomerackies on the television stepped backwards and looked each other in the eye. When they wereready, they ran toward each other and butted heads until their antlers were entangled.

They pulled their antlers out and butted heads again. This time, the male on the left used so much force

that the male on the right had one of his antlers broken. He fell toward the ground with a sense of

emptiness on the side of his head. The winner paraded around the forest floor to advertise his

achievement and rubbed noses with the female, who had become more attracted to him. “The winner gets

the girl in the end while the loser has to sit there and accept d efeat.”

“Aw man,” said the losing boomeracky, “I‟m never gonna get laid.”

“What‟s up, Hiroko?” asked Barthy the glylin as he was reclining against a soft pillow.

“Taro and my parents are fighting… again,” replied Hiroko, “I think my parents are right when

they say that Taro has been up to something. I hardly ever see him anymore and… and…” Hiroko

stopped in mid-sentence to think of how else to describe the odd situation.

“And?”

“And he‟s just not the same as he used to be.” Well said,

Hiroko. Well said.

Later that night, Taro decided to have a snack before going to

bed. He had been mad at his parents and didn‟t feel hungry when it

was actually dinnertime. He took out the necessary ingredients to

create a grilled ham and cheese and assembled the sandwich beforeputting it in the pan. Hiroko, not feeling tired, sat near the door and

starred at her brother. She felt a little sad and a mild pain was present

in her throat as she gulped. After about seven minutes, the sandwich

was done and Taro sat down to eat it. He took the first bite out of his

grilled ham and cheese before noticing that somebody was watching

him.



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“Who‟s there?” he asked despite knowing that it was his sister. Hiroko could only be seldom

seen because the lights we off in the hallway but her expression was out in the open. “What are you

doing up this late? Shouldn‟t you be in your pajamas or something?”

“I‟m sad that you‟re acting different,” she said, “Why can‟t you be like you used to be?” Taro

couldn‟t escape it; now, all his family was trying to persuade him to be the status quo.

“You, too? Why are you guys making this into an intervention? I‟ll bet mom and dad made youdo this. They want to control every facet of my life!”

“No, they didn‟t! I agree with them that you haven‟t been the same. I‟m sick of you being out all

the time and failing school! I‟m sick of you fighting with mom and dad! I want the old Taro back!”

Hiroko was close to tears at that moment. Taro just sat there eating his late night snack.

“Go to bed, Hiroko. You‟ll feel better in the morning.” Without objection, Hiroko took Taro‟s

advice and slinked to her bedroom, feeling that she hasn‟t accomplished much.

The next afternoon, Hiroko was playing with Barthy the glylin during one of the few moments

when he isn‟t sitting on the couch and/or eating junk food. She wondered what Barthy would look like

dressed like a goofball, so she grabbed as many clothing items as she could, including an old t-shirt and a

couple of wristbands. The wristbands fit right over his nubs. In fact, they covered most of his nubs. A

scarf was coiled on top of his head as if it was a hat from another culture. He needed one final touch

before Hiroko could snap a picture of him with her tiny, futuristic camera and put it on the internet.

“Something‟s missing,” she said, “Something to complete the ensemble.”

“A bra!” said Barthy, “It‟s not like anyone on the internet is going to see this…”

“Oh, I know! We need socks on those ears of yours!” A brilliant plan, especially for a silly

dress-up. “Taro has big feet. Maybe they‟ll fit your ears.” Hiroko ran out of the living room and left her

monster friend looking ridiculous and not minding it.

Hiroko didn‟t ask permission to go into her brother‟s room and she knew that it would be all right

if he never told him afterwards. She opened the door a little more and went inside the bedroom that was

slightly darkened compared to the rest of the house. From previous experience, she knew that Taro kepthis clothing in drawers under his bed, so that was the first place she looked. Taro may have been a

respectable boy, but he was a bit cluttered – his sock drawer was filled

with washcloths and underwear as well.

“Let‟s see…” said Hiroko, “Underwear, washcloth, bandana…

what‟s this?” Under all the clutter was a pointed object, like the top left

part of a cube. Hiroko pulled it out and saw that it was a shoebox. What

still remained a mystery was what was inside the shoebox. She shook it a

little and heard multiple things moving around, so it couldn‟t have been

shoes. “I‟ve already violated my brother‟s privacy by coming in here.

Should I continue further?” In Hiroko‟s mind, she was arguing with

herself; she wanted to know what her brother was hiding from the rest of

the world. After stalling for a brief moment, she decided to uncover the

box. What she saw inside that very shoebox stunned her; her mind was

too young to understand the contents of the box, but she knew that she

discovered the secret to Taro‟s change in behavior.



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The box contained needles, pills, joints, powder, blades – you name it. There was even a

miniature bong to top it all off. Hiroko‟s eyes widened and her jaw dropped to the floor. She was in the

same house – no – in the same room as these unlawful devices and substances.

Hiroko ran back into the living room with no socks in her hand. She was even more afraid of

what she saw in Taro‟s room than she was of the bogeyman. Halloween came early this year. Barthy the

glylin, still dressed in wacky clothing, noticed that the pupils in her eye had shrunk.“What did you see?” he asked. Hiroko didn‟t want to answer because she was still terrified.

“What did you see, Hiroko?”

“Alright,” said Hiroko as her shoulders lowered, “I‟ll tell you what I saw in there.”

Several seconds passed and Barthy had lent an ear to Hiroko‟s short but terrifying story.

“Drugs, you say?” inquired Barthy the glylin, “You mean those things in your bathrooms‟

medicine cabinets?”

“No, Barthy,” said Hiroko, “These are different kinds of drugs -- The bad kind.”

“So these „bad‟ drugs are responsible for Taro acting so weird.”

“You just put the puzzle together, mein freund .”

“You should tell your parents.”

“They‟ll freak out if I tell them what I found under Taro‟s bed. I think I should tell Taro in the

most secretive manner possible that he should give up his habit.” Barthy didn‟t have rebuttal for her idea,

so he accepted it.

“Suit yourself. Does this mean we‟re not playing dress-up anymore?” Hiroko needed ideas and

she needed them fast. She wasn‟t the cause of the problem, but she felt that she was an effective solution.

“I need a friend to help me with this. One who is kind, trusting, and helpful.

At the McClintock household, Adlai had nothing better to do. When he had nothing better to do,

he just looked through the refrigerator. No, he wasn‟t a glutton. He just wanted to look at something that

wasn‟t television or the internet. He noticed a tub that claimed “I can‟t believe it‟s not butter!” and

opened it just to make sure.“Hey, wait a minute,” he said, “This is butter!” His outrage faded just a little bit when he was

interrupted by the doorbell.

At the door, he found Hiroko, who probably made a very poor choice in picking “friends” to help

her with her plan.

“Hello, friend!” she said joyfully. Adlai was not amused.

“Screw off, crap face,” he said before closing the door. Hiroko rang the doorbell again…

multiple times. Adlai gave up and opened the door again to stop the

insanity.

“Will you leave me the hell alone?!” he demanded. Hiroko wasn‟t

at all frightened by Adlai‟s tone and kept smiling like the lovable child she

was. “If I help you will you promise to leave me alone?”

“Yesserie- bob,” she said.

Adlai took his time listening to Hiroko‟s dilemma at the kitchen

table. He was tapping his fingers on the wood with one hand and holding

his head up with the other.



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“Let me get this straight…” he said, “You were looking for socks and you found drugs?”

“Yes,” said Hiroko.

“So what were you doing in his sock drawer in the first place?” Hiroko slapped her hand on her

forehead and sighed.

“That‟s not the point. My point is that there are drugs in my house being used by my brother.”

“And you haven‟t told your parents?” “No. I‟m afraid they‟re going to send him to jail.” A tear dripped down Hiroko‟s right cheek and

landed on the laminated table cloth.

“Yours brother is not going to go to jail.” Adlai sounded reassuring, but Hiroko was unaware that

he didn‟t finish his statement. “He‟ll probably go to juvenile hall, but not jail.” More tears dripped down

Hiroko‟s cheek as she wailed in sadness. “Listen, you annoying runt. We‟ll think up a plan to get your

brother to quit doing drugs. Just stop bawling already.” Hiroko took a napkin from the napkin dispenser

and blew her nose to clear everything out and help her get through this.

“Maybe… maybe we can set up a meeting place several blocks from my house and schedule an

intervention there.”

“At least you‟re putting your puny brain to work.” Saul the bassala raised his right paw to signify

that he had an idea.

“Ooh, ooh, ooh,” he said, “Call on me! I have an idea!” Adlai knew ahead of time that his

monster partner was about to let something ridiculous and idiotic pass his fang-like jowls. “We should

take one of those bio-domes from the sci-fi movies… and fill it with chocolate pudding!”

“Why was your monster partner invited to this discussion again?” asked Hiroko.

“He‟s just sitting here until my mom comes back from the store with a new chew toy,” said Adlai.

Thoughts continued brewing through the children‟s heads, each idea getting a little better than the last.

“Say, Hiroko… you have little cousins who live in this town, right?”

“Yes, I do.”

“I have a great idea of how to use them.” Hiroko was flabbergasted at the idea, even though she

didn‟t know exactly what it was.

“You want to use my cousins?!”

“Hear me out, hear me out. This is what I plan to do…”

A little later, Adlai was at Hiroko‟s house and he was about to put his plan into fruition. Earlier,

he had asked Hiroko‟s Aunt Amy if she could “borrow” Ayami and Junior and she was fine with it. The

little ones were exploring their surroundings and looking at the decorations that were different from their

household.



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“It‟s easy to get children to convince others to

change their ways,” said Adlai as he was leaning against

the wall. He had a good feeling about what was about to

happen. He couldn‟t be convinced otherwise. He was just

that sure of it. Hiroko spoke to her cousins about what to

do and when their queue was.“Listen up,” said Hiroko, “Do you guys know

how to look sad?”

“I can do that!” said Ayami enthusiastically. She

turned around and rubbed her eyes to “rearrange” her face,

so to speak. When she turned around, she had a look that

could only be described as a sad kitten on the side of the

highway.

“You weren‟t kidding. Have you ever considered doing show business?” Ayami immediately

went back to her normal face so she could move her lips in verbal freedom.

“Why are we doing this again?” Hiroko tried her best to explain this situation to a four-year-old,

even if it meant not using the words “drugs” and “booze.”

“Because Taro is making bad life decisions.” Ayami figured that since she was being used to

help somebody change their mind, she needed a little more in-depth information.

“What kind of life decisions?”

“Taro is putting bad things into his body that don‟t belong there.”

“You mean like Play Dough and thumbtacks?” Hiroko didn‟t want to explain the situation

anymore, so she rolled her eyes and sighed before confirming Ayami‟s guess.

“Yes, Ayami, like Play Dough and thumbtacks.” Hiroko peered out the window to see if their

guest of honor was in sight. He was walking down the sidewalk with a reusable bag filled with

necessities from the convenience store. Hiroko and Adlai had no time to lose. “He‟s coming! Everyone

get in your places!” Soon, the sound of a key being inserted and turned could be heard from the inside. Taro emerged

and found his little cousins starring at him in a way that made him feel weird. It was quite odd that they

were here in the first place, but why, oh why, were they giving him a look of melancholy?

“Taro,” said Hiroko, “These young children have something to say to you.”

“Cousin Taro,” said Ayami in an exaggerated sadness, “Please stop putting bad things into your

body.” Taro knew that the children had been indoctrinated somehow and wasn‟t impressed with the

performance.

“Who told you to do this?” he sneered.

“We don‟t want you putting Play Dough into your body. It tastes icky, anyway.”

“What are you talking about?” Adlai had no choice but to further explain to her brother about

their message, since it was already backfiring.

“Taro, what we‟re trying to say is, you should stop acting like such a jerk and doing awful things

to yourself,” he said, “Whatever happened to the old Taro?”

“When will you give it up?” asked Taro.

“Taro, remember a couple of days ago when your band performed at the annual band -off?” said

Hiroko. Taro put his memory to work and tried to recall any incident involving a band contest.



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Flashback: three days ago:

It was a quiet night, except for the Full Moon Café, which was holding its annual band contest.

People lined up outside the door and anxiously waited to pay their fee and enter the establishment where

free coffee was being served and bands were about to “duke it out.”

Taro‟s band was behind the curtain and doing things such as tuning their instruments and

conversing with their musical rivals. The drummer of Taro‟s band noticed that Taro was missing from all

the commotion. He put down his electric guitar and starting searching backstage.

“Taro!” he called. He wasn‟t the worrisome type; he just wanted to make sure that everyone was

here for the gig. He searched high and low and didn‟t miss a spot backstage. “Where could that weirdo

be?”

In the end, Dane found Taro in the unisex bathroom

down the small corridor. Taro was sitting in the tiled corner;

better days had already passed his vision. His eyes were

bloodshot, his posture was disgraceful, used needles and empty

pill containers were surrounding him.

“Oh, for God‟s sake,” sighed his friend, “Why the hell

are you in here? You have a gig in five minutes!” Taro could

barely understand Dane‟s words and he could barely mutter a

descent reply.

“…eh?” he said with his mouth still slightly open. The

show couldn‟t go on without Taro. Dane grabbed his hand and

struggled to get him off the bathroom floor. Taro was staggeredand trying his best to move his legs as his band mate was

dragging him backstage.

Five minutes later, the band was all set to perform, but Dane had to put the guitar over Taro‟s

body because he was too disoriented to do it himself.

“Is everybody ready?” asked Trevor , the lead singer.



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“Yeah,” said Dane and Rick (the drummer). Taro didn‟t bother to say anything; he just swayed

back and forth. The owner of the coffee house started introducing the band to the already-rowdy

customers.

“This next band is a local one that needs no introduction,” he said, “Please welcome Plasma

Puppy!” The curtain rose to reveal a band that was only ¾ prepared. Dane looked at the other members

and started counting upwards.“1, 2, 3,” he said in harmony. Their song started playing, but Taro was still disoriented. He

swayed back and forth and looked at the audience through kaleidoscope eyes. So many substances had

been pumped into his body that he couldn‟t focus on playing his instrument. Everything he could

experience with his eyes open made him nauseous. It wasn‟t long until the other three members noticed

that Taro hadn‟t even touched the Orange Asp. They stopped playing their instruments at almost the

same time to observe him. Only the feedback from the stereo could be heard.

“Uhh…” groaned Taro. Within seconds, Taro couldn‟t take anymore and vomited right there on

the stage. Dane and Trevor backed away from the mess he made and the audience started booing and

hissing. Hiroko was in the back of the establishment too embarrassed to look up from her complimentary

cookie. Taro swayed a little more and collapsed like an old building. Everyone observed him lying

unconscious in his own filth. As the audience was expressing their disappointment, Dane and Trevor

dragged Taro off the stage.

Hours later, Taro regained consciousness on the couch backstage. He couldn‟t remember

anything that happened after he entered the coffee shop and his head was throbbing like a newly-formed

sore. He noticed his band mates starring at him from above.

“Ug…” he said, “What happened?”

“You were totally high out there, Taro!” said Rick, “You should‟ve seen yourself!”

“You mean… the contest is over?”

“Yeah,” said Dane, “We came in last place.”

“Where‟s Hiroko?”

“Your parents picked her up hours ago.” Taro looked down and noticed that he was wearingpolka dotted pants. “Why the hell am I wearing these?”

“Oh yeah,” said Rick, “Shortly after you collapsed on stage, you peed yourself.” Taro felt

embarrassed and ashamed in a whole new way.

“Well why did you put these on me?”

“You had some less-lame pants on quite some time ago, but you don‟t wanna know what you did

to those.”

“So?” said Hiroko, “Don‟t you remember?” Taro dug deep in his memory bank and couldn‟t find

anything.”

“No, I don‟t,” he said sternly.

“That‟s because you were on drugs, Taro! I should know because I saw what was in that

shoebox!” Taro gasped in horror; his privacy had been invaded by a short, purple-haired twerp.

“You went into my room without permission?! What gave you that right?” Hiroko was

ultimately out of things to say. She probably shouldn‟t have admitted that she trespassed on her brother‟s

property.



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“There‟s no use to not admitting your problem, Taro! I have proof.” Taro had quite enough of

his sister‟s ramblings and decided to confine himself in his room. He walked away from the situation

without further reminding. “Admit your problem! Admitting is the first step towards recovery!”

“Up yours!” Taro could only say that, since he was no longer visible enough to give the finger.

Adlai felt that his presence from here on was unnecessary.

“I think I‟ll get outta here,” he said, “I‟ll just dump your cousins somewhere.” Hiroko stood theredefeated by her attempt to change her brother‟s ways. It took her a while to realize that Adlai had said

something that sounded irresponsible.

“Hey – you can‟t just dump my cousins anywhere; they have to go back to their house!”

Taro was all by himself in his room, the only place where he could be secluded from everything

and everybody. Of course, his sister‟s exploits proved that not even his room was private anymore. He

still refused to admit that he had a problem, though it was pretty obvious now.

Thump… thump… thump… Barthy the glylin was flopping toward Taro‟s room instead of his

usual rolling. He eventually made it to the corner of Taro‟s doorway, where he exposed half his corpulent

body. He was able to squeeze his head in since the door was ajar.

“Are you okay, Taro?” he asked.

“Go and choke on a piece of beef,” said Taro. Sticks and stones could break Barthy‟s bones, but

weight-related insults didn‟t slow him down.

“Taro, we care about you. Although she did it in a strange way, Hiroko was right about you not

being the same old Taro. You fight with your parents, your grades are falling, and you‟ve completely

forgotten about your monster.” Something in Taro struck him real hard. He jerked up from his woeful

position almost immediately.

“Oh my god…” he muttered. He was so dumbfounded that he had to repeat his interjection. “Oh

my god! Mabel!” Taro, learning the error of his ways, jumped off his bed and grabbed his backpack for

the long journey he was about to make. “How could I have forgotten Mabel?”

Taro made his way down the hall like an antelope and ran out the door with his stuff. Hirokodidn‟t pay any attention to his actions, since she didn‟t want to start anything else.

Some time later, Barthy flopped back to Hiroko to tell her the news.

“Hiroko!” he said.

“Barthy, you look like you have something to say,” said Hiroko while she was changing a light

sphere (a futuristic version of a light bulb). Barthy was out of breath from the long tread (an ironic

description) down the hallway.

“I do have something to say! Your brother is off to the portal station to go to Mesozoa!” Hiroko

gasped. What was it with her brother and his stupid decisions?

“He doesn‟t have a monster to protect him! He‟s gonna be massacred by dinosaurs!”

“We should go together!”

“I‟ll go. You stay here and watch TV.” Hiroko got up and left before Barthy the glylin had a

chance to object.

“But that means you’ll be going without a monster, too! Hiroko? Hiroko?! Aw, screw this.

There‟s probably something interesting on Lifetime anyway…”

In the prehistoric-looking land of Mesozoa, the sky was turning grey and the plant life was

looking forward to the upcoming showers. A large volcano many miles away had smoked billowing from



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its center. Taro, too concerned to realize his foolishness, tread through the environment shouting his

monster‟s name at the top of his lungs.

“Mabel!” he shouted. “I‟m sorry!” He knew the exact place where he used to meet Mabel the

skipper every day, but he couldn‟t pinpoint the exact location where she was at that moment. He searched

behind every rock and fern and couldn‟t find the joyful, green dinosaur. His heart raced almost as much

as his feet. “Mabel!”

Meanwhile, Hiroko finally got a round-trip ticket to the Rhythm and Melody World… but it

wasn‟t f or Mesozoa. The dimensional gate in which she passed had in it a valley of turquoise-colored

grass with tiny holes in the ground between the blades. Bubbles arose from these holes and filled the sky.

The spiral-like trees were just as blue as water. Hiroko was looking for her brother amongst one of the

many lakes that dotted the landscape, but she had no luck in finding him.

“Taro!” shouted Hiroko, “Where in Mesozoa are you?!” A koiki

popped out of the lake upon hearing Hiroko‟s voice.

“You‟re mistaken, young human,” she said, “This is Bubbling

Fields.” The presence of the pink fish startled Hiroko a bit.

“No, this is Mesozoa.”

“No, this is Bubbling Fields. I‟ve lived here all my life.” The

two began to argue and waste time, all because Hiroko couldn‟t stand the thought of being wrong.

Taro was still in the damp and intimidating-looking land of his music monster, still searching for

her. A herd of bracabeetles (a cross between a brontosaurus and a bug) were munching on the delicious

trees where he was frantically searching.

One of the bracabeetles started chewing on Taro‟s shirt, thinking that it was a leaf that fell onto the

ground.

“Ow – hey… what are you doing?” asked Taro.

“Sorry,” said the bracabeetles in a deep voice, “I thought you were a tasty leaf .”

“Have you seen my monster? She‟s five feet tall, she‟s quiet, she hops around a lot…”



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“Oh, yeah. She‟s been waiting on that hill for close to a month now.” The hill he was talking

about was just ahead of the sight, a bit of a climb but nothing treacherous. Taro now had a little more

information about Mabel‟s whereabouts.

“Thank you, big lug,” he said.

After a half hour of arguing with a pink fish, Hiroko accepted the fact that her destination had nodinosaurs or palm trees. She made her way back to the portal station and went back to the real world, so

she could wait on a long line for a ticket to her ideal place.

“Why am I doing this?” she asked herself as she was in between two people, “He‟s supposed to

be watching out for me.” She had to wait an untold amount of time before she could pay the woman at

the booth and receive a round-trip ticket. Oh, the minutes that passed by…

Taro huffed and puffed up the hill, which seemed a lot smaller from afar. If he slipped on a stone

or got his foot tangled in a root, he just kept walking. After giving it his all, he grew tired and sweaty.

His monster needed him, but he felt that there was no harm in resting for a bit. He was wrong. Dead

wrong.

As he was sitting on the large rock, five monsters spied on him, thinking of him as a perfect

victim. The mass of trees were thick enough for them to conceal their bodies, even though they were

quite large.

After a few minutes, Taro regained his strength and wasn‟t breathing heavily anymore. He stood

up and started walking again. Unfortunately, he only took a few steps before the ambush came. Out of

the trees came five armored dinosaurs, each with feathers sticking out of their heads. They would have

looked noble if they weren‟t so intimidating.

“Oh, look!” said the head camesaur, “It‟s a human without a monster protecting him!”

“He‟s so helpless!” said another camesaur in the tone of a mean schoolyard child.



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“Let‟s destroy him and eat him for dinner!” said another. Without being alerted, the camesaurs

started circling around Taro and gazing at him like he was a worthless bug. They started smirking and

giggling, more and more as Taro became scared senseless.

On another hill beside that one, the boomeracky that was seen on TV earlier was overlooking the

trouble that was brewing.

“Oh no,” he said, “That kid looks like he‟s in trouble!” The other boomeracky was behind him.He was mingling with his mate, who was nuzzling him and enjoying herself.

“Why don‟t you tell your girlfriend?” he said, “Oh wait – you don‟t have one!”

“Royce, quit pestering me! It‟s bad enough that they used that humiliating moment in a cable TV

documentary!”

Mabel the skipper was quite skilled in concealing herself because she was there all along. She

watched behind a rock as her partner was about to get massacred by a gang of dinosaurs in armor. She

wanted to help the poor kid, but then she remembered that this was the kid that betrayed her and sold his

soul to the metaphorical world of illegal substances. No. No person like that deserved to be saved. She

turned her back to the situation and closed her eyes as if she was starring at the sun.

“Blade of the Round Table!” proclaimed one of the camesaurs. He took his sword and swung it

in the direction of Taro. Taro managed to miss it, a lucky move for him.

“You punk!” said another.

“Falling nova!” proclaimed another camesaur. Using his dinosaur knight powers, a red, blazing

star appeared above him and fell like a rock. Taro had to protect himself somehow… like getting the hell

out of there! Taro ran behind a grouping of palm trees and evaded the attack. The wind from the

resulting explosion could still be felt on his face. By now, Taro feared for his life.

“What have I gotten myself into?” he asked himself. The gang of camesaurs had other sinister

things up their sleeves.

“Hey, hey,” said one, “Use your sword to chop those trees and maybe we‟ll get that human as

well!” One of them lifted his giant sword and swung it, causing the greenery to split in half like

vegetables. Taro knew to duck during such a situation. Bynow, he was shaking from the fear that was going through

his system.

Mabel the skipper tried ignoring the battle by

hiding behind a further rock, but it was too much to bear.

Her eyes wanted to be shut to block out the images, but she

was just too worried about her human partner. The need to

protect him had been instilled in her at birth. Her desire to

hate him for what he did was not quite as strong as her

desire to protect him. She stood up and started to hop

toward the one-sided battle, to do what had to be done.

“Falling nova!” said one camesaur. He performed

the attack again, once more making a blazing, red star fall

out of the sky. Unfortunately, Taro couldn‟t get away in

time and was caught in the midst of the explosion.

Taro lay there alive, but unconscious. His face, turned on its side, was dirty and his pants

developed some tears. His hat blew off far away.



13

When Taro‟s hat reached the ground at the feet of Mabel the skipper, she jumped to the rescue.

Her heart was strong; her will could not be matched. She paused her wild feet when she came up to the

camesaurs, laughing at the pain they caused.

“Oh, looky here!” said the head camesaur, “A shrimp-asaurus! You‟re probably no stronger than

that human we totally pummeled.” Mabel‟s face grew red with anger. She exhaled out of her nose like a

bull about to charge. “What are you gonna do to us, huh?” Mabel‟s rage at the enemy monsters anddesire to protect her human stirred new feelings within her. She clutched her claws and bore her sharp

teeth. With her new-found feelings, she started glowing. The camesaur bullies didn‟t feel so tough once

they figured out what was going on.

“So…” said one of the camesaurs, “Do you think we pissed her off?” Mabel shape-shifted to an

even bigger form, on that was almost as big as her enemies.

When her transformation was complete, she resembled a bulbous, purple dragon with lightning-

shaped horns. She had become her top level, almaaz, and she was ready to show these monsters a world

of pain and fury. The head camesaur was ready to fight whenever she was.

“We defeated your human,” he said, stating the obvious, “What are you gonna do about it?”

Well, let‟s see… Mabel the almaaz started with ramming the leader with her horns, which created sparks

that shocked him. It didn‟t even matter that he had armor on that part of his body; it still hurt like the

dickens.

“Little miss purple thinks she‟s so tough,” said one of the camesaurs, “There‟s six of us and oneof you. You‟re outnumbered, little missy!” Though Mabel couldn‟t talk, the look on her face told the

enemy monsters “We‟ll see about that.” She lifted her fat arms and crossed them. Before a comment

could be uttered, she slashed the leader in an “X” shape. The leader fell to the ground, dazed from the

strength of the technique.

“Ug…” he groaned. Just as she did in her previous form, Mabel growled at the camesaurs and

snorted in their direction. She continued to claw at three of the enemies, not stopping for anything.



14

Eventually, the three enemies hit the ground. By now, the remaining three camesaurs didn‟t want to mess

with such a beast and they tried backing away from the scene. Mabel wasn‟t through yet. All we can say

about the next six minutes is that the remaining three camesaurs pretty much get their asses handed to

them.

She didn‟t think she could do it, but she did; Mabel stood up to six other monsters and defeated

them all on her own. As the six camesaurs were lying unconscious all around, Mabel the almaaz caughther breath. Her body was really run down from the scrap and she couldn‟t take anymore. Her job was

done; she could finally rest. She tried to regain her strength by closing her eyes and falling asleep right

there, but she used so much of her energy that her body slowly started shutting down. Little by little, her

form started disappearing until she was shapeless and nothing more than her melody – a music box-like

noise in the key of A. Her melody – a white blob with music notes dancing all around – shrunk. It

transformed into an oval shape that was about seven inches high.

As this was happening, Hiroko arrived at the scene, where she saw her brother unconscious and

without his signature hat. This instilled fear and concern in her, even more than before.

“Oh my!” she gasped, “What the heck is going on?” She nudged her brother a couple times

before there was any response. He slowly opened his eyes and saw his sister with a worried look on her

face.

“Oh man…” he said, “I don‟t remember anything before the explosion.”

“There was an explosion?!” Hiroko felt ashamed that she missed the happenings, but at the same

time she felt safe knowing that she didn‟t fall victim to them. Taro got on his knees and shook his head

fiercely. He noticed that all of the camesaurs that were tormenting him earlier

were scattered around the scene unconscious.

“Some beneficent soul came to save me… but who?” Taro heard the

music box song that was still playing and recognized it immediately. “Mabel‟s

song…” He caught sight of the melody just as it was forming a protective

purple shell around itself. “Mabel!” Before long, Mabel was no longer the

monster that Taro once knew. She had reverted back to her egg form.Taro was grateful that he was saved, but he felt immense sorrow. He

didn‟t want to emasculate himself, but he couldn‟t help but cry. He ran up to

Mabel‟s egg and hugged it, making sure not to crack it in the process.

“Oh, Mabel!” he wailed, “You sacrificed yourself so I could live!”

Hiroko also felt grief at the moment, but was deeply disappointed in her

brother. She had to tell him her two cents on this emotional turmoil.

“For the past few weeks, you have betrayed your monster,” she

started, “Despite you abandoning her for a life of drug abuse, she still came to your rescue when you were

in danger. You should be lucky that your monster had the biggest heart of all; if you had any other

monster, it would have just left you to die.” Hiroko then cast her brother off like a piece of rubbish. She

walked away, happy to leave Taro alone to wallow in his sadness. His outlook had changed dramatically.

What his sister said sounded harsh, but he knew that it was 100% true. His monster became so faithful to

him that she never ever lost trust. Her heart was just too big.

Another turning point, a fork stuck in the road

Time grabs you by the wrist, directs you where to go

So make the best of this test, and don't ask why



15

It's not a question, but a lesson learned in time

It's something unpredictable, but in the end it's right.

I hope you had the time of your life.

So take the photographs, and still frames in your mind

Hang it on a shelf in good health and good time

Tattoos of memories and dead skin on trial

For what it's worth it was worth all the while







music monster mini adventures episode 10: the biggest heart of all

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