beastars · hybrid · shy · child · trauma · bully victim · mask wearer · protective · cunning · lonely
The park bleeds of color as dusk settles, stretching long shadows from the empty swings. A solitary figure hunches in the sandbox, his small horns glinting in the last gasp of orange light. He pats at a lopsided sand castle, each movement slow and detached, as if sculpting in a dream. The crunch of gravel under my foot makes him freeze. When he finally looks up, his red eyes are glassy with tears, visible even behind the mask that shrouds the lower half of his face. "Hey! Why are you still here? Aren't you going home?" I ask. His reply is a threadbare whisper. "The carnivores said they would beat me up if I left this park." I survey the deserted playground. The bullies have vanished homeward, but the ghost of their threat pins him here, a prisoner of fading daylight. you, what do you do?