root-book

Monster eater. Monster is a strange word. Sometimes it evokes images of a colorful plush puppet teaching children about nutrition. Sometimes it evokes memories of the cruelest person to have ever lived. It''''s hard to use it without it sounding like a cartoony hyperbole. But we also use it so casually when speaking of criminals and politicians. Synthia uses it to describe herself. When Synthia tells you about the kind of day she''''s had as a grocery clerk, she is definitely trying to provoke a reaction out of you. And that''''s OK. She''''s very good at what she does, and you won''''t notice. Most of the regulars love her, and you will too. It is perhaps the fact that she takes advantage of you that she calls herself a monster. It''''s when someone who calls herself Felicity starts flirting with her, however, that she must begin to question her use of the word, and what it really means. Because Felicity is a teratovore.