We’re building our own monsters in Blog class. Roman Rickwood’s choice creation is an invisible monster who wreaks havoc . . . even on the freeways.

By Roman Rickwood

When I first received the assignment “build your own monster,” I was confused. At first I only thought about physical traits, like being big and scary–you know like a traditional monster. I thought about the task more, and I realized that big and scary monsters are a little dated, and some would even say less scary. Personally, I am not scared of things that I can see; however, it is the things that are invisible that are most scary. 

You can think of my monster as a shapeshifter that was produced to cause panic. My monster is a transformer and a professional tormentor all in one. My monster finds what your fears are and takes advantage. If you fear spiders, he’s the spider under your bed. If you’re afraid of the future, he’s the doubts in your head. If you dread embarrassment, he’ll place you in the most mortifying situations. If you don’t have any fears, he will create them. He has a mind of his own. He causes panic when there is no need to panic. He leaves entire communities grieving. 

He was responsible for the world’s largest and longest-lasting highway pileup. It was an icy day on a busy interstate highway; he had clearly woken up on the wrong side of the bed. He decided to use his shapeshifting ability to morph into a giant invisible and impenetrable road block. He positioned himself at a very very slow part in the day, a time where there was very little traffic. The first vehicle that hit his transparent roadblock was a semi truck, no match for the force of the indestructible monster. For the next two hours, cars, trucks, motorcycles piled up. At this point, the monster had enough; he was bored and had done the deed. He had accomplished his goal of horrifying and dismantling. When all the dust settled, literally, he slouched on to the next haunting. But, he found little that would satisfy his hunger. He looked to feel something different, but found nothing titillating. The problems he was inflicting on others, he conjectured, were problems he had in himself.

So, he ran away to the mountains of Uzbekistan and morphed into a rock. There you will find him.

Build-Your-Own-Monster Editor: Erik Bearman