Our story begins in Screamtown, a town in a world populated by giant monsters of all forms of mythology. Anywhere else, humans would be in danger of being devoured by giant monsters but in Screamtown, monsters and humans coexisted peacefully and it was illegal for monsters to harm humans. A lot of times in Screamtown there are families that mix together monsters and humans. There was one such case in the form of Esther Ringer and her family. Esther was an 800ft tall gorgon woman with cobra-like snakes called ringhals for hair, bright green skin and a long tail as well as a pair of legs. She was slightly chubby and pear-shaped which was actually common because adult female monsters in Screamtown were either very muscular like Mayor Phyllis Gacks, Dr. Desdemona Weisman and Chief Eileen Dinkley or rather heavyset and often even obese like several of Esther’s neighbors.
Esther herself lived with her human husband, Perseus in a section of Screamtown called Autumn Avenue. It was so-called because it was perpetually autumn. Before Perseus married Esther he had three human children from a previous relationship that ended badly. However, Esther got along very well with her human stepchildren and at that moment was walking them to school. The gorgon giantess was carrying them in her purse as she walked down the street. As she did so, she saw several instances that reminded her of monsters and humans getting along in Screamtown but for some reason it made her feel a sense of ennui. However, her children were as restless as ever. Her infant son, Preston was laughing as her older two children, Ashlyn and Sherman were running about because apparently Sherman took one of Ashlyn’s textbooks. “Come on, Sherman! This isn’t funny! Give it back!” “Why not? You’re not failing any classes.” “Kids,” said Esther. “Calm down. You’re going to upset Preston. Here we are, almost there.” Esther walked up to a junior high school and then handed them to the gargoyle teacher before she lowered two of her hair snakes to kiss them. “Come on, Preston,” said Esther. “We’ll come back for your brother and sister after school.”
After dropping off her older kids, Esther decided to take Preston in the harness in her necklace and go for a walk around Screamtown. First, she decided to walk by Winter Way, having pulled the hood on her sweatshirt over her head to prevent brain freeze from her cold-blooded hair. She turned to see V. V. Burton the fortune teller yeti was busy with human clients as the sorceress unicorn Gabriella Gallops flew overhead. Esther waved up at the giant unicorn woman right before she spotted Penumbra Howler the werewolf interior designer shoveling snow. Esther then turned to see what looked like a monster-sized birdbath where a human hockey game was going on and several monsters were spectators. A muscular and blonde-haired zombie giantess with an exposed spine and missing lips appeared to be cheering on her still-living human son on the ice, prompting Esther to smile. Esther noticed that Preston was feeling cold so she took her tiny son and moved on to the next part of town.
This was the part of Screamtown that was known as Springtime Street. This part of the town was stuck in spring and it showed with blades of grass as big as trees to humans and large flowers everywhere. The minotaur, Latanya Bull was working in her garden and as Esther walked down the street and turned her head, she could see Cassidy Voltaire, the vulture harpy and her pigeon-like daughter Libby jogging down the street. The Golden Hind woman, Hera Hind, was running the opposite way acting as a taxi for the humans that were riding in her belly bag. Esther looked and saw a fat and pregnant centicore woman resembling a humanoid eland. Her human husband was standing on and rubbing her pregnant belly right before she held her head down to kiss him.
“Oh,” said Esther. “Preston. How about we see if we can pick up something yummy from Maddie’s place.” Esther walked into the bakery of Springtime Street. The proprietress, Maddie, was a gorgon as well with lavender rattlesnakes for hair. Unlike Esther who had legs, Maddie only had a rattlesnake’s tail where her legs should’ve been. Some gorgons were born with legs and some were born with tails. Some gorgons like Esther had both. Maddie was busy with a mixing bowl when she noticed Esther come in. “Oh,” said Maddie. “Hi there, Eshter. Hi, Preston.” Preston burbled as Maddie moved her finger in front of him. “Hi, Maddie,” said Esther. “Would you happen to have any elephant ears?” Maddie gave a puzzled look as she felt the sides of her head. “No. I don’t have elephant ears. I have gorgon ears. But Josephine has elephant ears, which makes sense since she’s a grootslang and...” Esther rolled her eyes. “Let me rephrase that, do you have any elephant ears for sale today. And I mean pastries.” Maddie snapped her fingers. “Oh! Silly me, I just baked a batch this morning.
Esther let out a sigh. Maddie wasn’t very bright or good with metaphors. You had to be very careful when speaking to you or she wouldn’t understand a word you say. Esther then looked around and Preston’s sight was following his giant gorgon mother’s field of vision. “Where’s Rick?” asked Esther. “Rick’s home sick today,” said Maddie as she was rooting around for elephant ears. “So I gave him the day off.” Rick was the human who was Maddie’s sole employee. He lived in a tree in Mayor Gacks’s yard in Centerville. Like Esther, Rick had a mixed family. Rick’s adoptive older sister was a hippogriff named Olga. Esther smiled thinking about that but then let out a sigh. Preston looked up and saw his mother speaking with Maddie. “Maddie? Don’t you ever think that perhaps things work too well in Screamtown?”
Maddie as usual was confused. “Well, I work pretty well. I spend half the day baking sweets and then Angel, she works very well building those steampunk gadgets, Mayor Gacks works well making sure the humans and monsters get along, but then again there are monsters like Alex who work too well playing pranks, Mabel doesn’t work at all and just sleeps all day and as for Noreen, I don’t know if she has a job but she has money and electricity and water and...” Esther let out a groan. “I mean, there’s just no excitement. It’s too peaceful. Nothing ever happens.” Maddie let out a laugh. “That’s not true. Right now something is happening. Right now, I’m selling you an elephant ear.”
Esther paid for her pastry and left. She let out a groan. “Pay close attention, Preston,” said the enormous gorgon mom. “That’s what happens when one’s hair is smarter than one’s head.” Preston let out a laugh. It wasn’t long before Esther and her baby were both sharing the same elephant ear as they were sitting on a bench. “Sure,” said Esther. “It’s peaceful in Screamtown but it sure is boring.” As Esther let out another sigh, she heard a banging sound and Preston begun to cry, forcing Esther to rock him. She lifted her head to see a gashadokuro putting up a poster. The gorgon’s snake hair hissed to get a good look and Esther read the flier.
“Sumo Competition in Yellfleet. Monster Women Only. Grand Prize: 10,000 Skulls.” Esther was deep in thought on the manner right before Preston looked up and burbled at her in confusion. That was when the giant gorgon housewife got an idea to herself. But then she realized something and felt around her belly to remember that it was too small for her to enter the competition. She then smiled at Preston. “Come on, Darling,” she said. “We’re picking up takeout for lunch and I know a great restaurant...”
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