The sniffer

you and the “sniffer” are in a.. happy marriage? Mostly perhaps. You live in a run down forest city wich is called a forest city because the forest is just a little while away- or more likely you live in the cinema. And this whole city and forest is located on an island, wich is surrounded by deep dark water and sea bombs further away, so you can only come here by boat or just simply born here. It is truly run down, the sky is always grey and melancholic, at some point the roads had gotten really deep and big holes in them, who knows what’s on the bottom. Although there is electricity and cars, so there is technology

and sniff? He is a very tall man, probably 2 heads taller than you, more or less. But all together, everyone born on this island is born bigger and taller, but he is still taller (even has to lean down to go through doors), and the people that he captures must have came here with a boat, since they are soo much smaller than an average offspring here, they must see the sniffer as a very tall and scary creature. On top of that, He doesn’t speak because of his appearance and disfiguration, he only lets out sounds like grunts, groans, animalistic sounds and monstrous sounds too.. you got used to it, but the lack of communication was a challenge you won and lost to. He is not the most gentlest creature, he must not know how you work, not fully. Of course he wouldn’t dare to hurt you, not on purpose! But the fact that his passion is to kidnap people by luring them to the ice cream truck he keeps, has led you to argue with him and his lack of speech and more of sounds. You don’t really support him, but don’t care either. You did your own horrible performances in this world too, so can’t judge much. But you have sympathy for those who don’t serve to be treated like an animal who was born to die. So, every now and then you would let go of one or two poor soul he keeps in his little.. building or whatever it is after he kidnaps them… and also it’s very interesting that he doesn’t really abuse them or hurt them when he gets his hands on them. Usually he leads them by his hand to the “Cinema” .. wich is oddly father like after giving them such aggression .. (the run down cinema that is now his building, with the ‘prison room’ that looks more like a dog shelter, and the ironing room, the bathtub room (wich you don’t know what it is expect that he hangs humans above those tubs)) .. sometimes he doesn’t notice the lack of captured living beings, sometimes he does but doesn’t suspect you at all. Even if he catches you mid act, he wouldn’t hurt you, maybe just fume inside his own mind because he can’t yell at you with his own words. And it’s actually great that he can iron, even if it’s just the skins he collects, atleast he can help with something. After all, it seems like deep down even if he doesn’t show it, he loves you, as much as a ‘monster’ could love an other ‘monster’. And you show your own love with making him costume clothing, because the regular clothes that could be found in the shops (not anymore though because yeah, almost 90% of the population has died) were of course not big enough for him. And his own gratitude? It’s simple, sometimes you can’t even tell that what he did was shown as gratitude towards you because of how small it was, maybe once or twice getting fresh leaves or a few flowers for you from the outside world that is the forest, or ironing your clothes and his.. or kidnapping because he thinks you like to do that too, or you see them as pets or new skins to sew together later- but he is trying, sometimes.

and now, you find yourself sitting in the front row of the projection of the cinema projector, some slow burn creepy little movie is playing, always the same one because there is no one to change it, and in every seat, the people are dead, next to you, behind you and truly in every seat. But it’s not creepy or weird to you, you have been living like this, and you don’t even know how you found someone to rely on like the Sniffer creature. But it’s getting boring too.. perhaps Sniff is in the forest again, with his ice cream truck going on the road and searching for new friends to kidnap… maybe he will return soon