I was running as fast as I could through the thick night time forest being chased by monsters.

     "Hurry Kate!" I heard my friend, Indy, yell. "We have to get there before they catch us!"

     ....

     Before I continue any further, I should explain why I am doing something as foolish and as stupid as running through a forest at night. Let alone having a pack of monsters chasing me too.

     About one year ago, sometime in the year 2019, I met my friend Indy. She is an 8 in. tall garden fairy who had been injured the night before and had found refuge in my backyard garden's bushes. It was there my black dog, Raven, found her and brought her to my attention. I brought her unconscious body into my house and carefully tended to her wounds. When she eventually came to, she told me she had been caught snooping around the monsters' 'hiding place' for black beast's heart.

     I say 'hiding place' because everyone in town knew or at least suspected where they had hidden it. Shortly before the black beast was defeated, the local monsters worked together to build something in a dense patch of forest just outside of town. Its base composed of a short red brick pedestal, topped with a concrete slab. Upon it stood a human sized angel clothed in flowing robes with folded wings, out stretched arms and its eyes turned heaven ward. Mounted on the front of pedestal was a carved wooden plaque depicting a stylized version of the black beast's capture and the monsters' celebration. At the top of the plaque were carved the words 'What Fools These Mortals Be!'.

     After the black beast's final defeat and capture, the local monsters kept the monument guarded during the day with hybrids to keep people away from it. We didn't know for certain why they did it, but we knew if you stayed away from that patch of forest, the local monsters would leave you and anyone close to you alone. Even if you, or they, went out at night when the darkness loving monsters were the most active. This alone was enough to keep most people from asking any questions. But that is neither here nor there at the moment so back to my flashback!

     Indy also told me if I kept her here and didn't hand her over to the monsters soon, I may as well be signing my death warrant if they ever found out. I told her bluntly I wouldn't. She then persisted on trying to change my mind. I listened to her patiently for awhile until I grew tired of it and threatened to gag her with a dirty sock if she didn't stop. After I said that, I told her if the monsters ever got to her it would be over my dead body and nothing they or her could say or do would ever change my mind. She got real quiet then and stopped trying to convince me.