The Monster in Mister Stone

The Monster in Mr. Stone - "KENNY" - is a short psychological thriller that delves into the mind of a highly-functioning psychopath, one Darryl Stone. Beset by "the school of hard knocks" early on - young Darryl learns at age eight from a drunken uncle that, "excuses are like assholes - everybody has one." This at-risk boy quickly accepts his uncle's hard-assed philosophy and personal violence - as a mere matter of course. Some twenty-years on, the troubled, albeit intelligent fellow goes on to become a woodwork and special needs teacher, in an under-funded inner-city school. Although Darryl Stone performed his teaching job well in the main, devastation and murder was the ultimate result of his wrongful employment - in a much-flawed educational system. Most psychopaths tend to let themselves "off the hook" for any personal misdeed small or large - right up to and including murder. At the same time, they have zero tolerance for the slightest faux pas of others, becoming murderously angry as a result. In that skewed vein, when our hapless American high-school teacher Mr. Stone chooses to leave his dysfunctional behaviors unresolved and unchecked until they simply fester, they ultimately morph the lost soul into a depraved, murderous sidekick name "Kenny" - with moody Mr. Stone along for the depraved ride. With the concomitant empathy of a plastic flower, Mr. Stone's Kenny exacts revenge on the innocent, and not-so innocent. Yet the bigger problem remains, that millions of "Kenny types" roam the world unchecked, gnashing their yellow canines in gleeful anticipation of yet another hapless victim. What to do, when monsters consider their victims, much like a hawk observes a rat from its perch - utterly devoid of emotion - for the rat is simply an essential meal - a critical means to an end. Psychologically-speaking then, demented people of Mr. Stone's sorry ilk are unforgiving birds of prey. The short (190 pages-or-so) manuscript is also a latent metaphor for a society run largely by inveterate (male and female) bullies and their fawning sycophants, ever-eager to climb the corporate ladder at any ethical cost. These disgusting brown-nosers sit grinning on the sidelines, smugly satisfied in their little vacuums, doing nothing to change the brutal status quo - an uncompromising vertical hierarchy. And some of them are on Mr. Stone's unfinished hit list. There are many more human depravities like Mr. Stone lurking in the shadows, and thick weeds. That's precisely why, for example, you should never pull over on the side of the road to stay the night for free - on some lonely pullout half-way up the Alaskan Highway. Because unforgiving psychopaths are currently out there (and pretty much everywhere else) looking for wayward travelers to kill; saving that buck could cost you your life. So, despite the world's high technology in 2021, the hapless human being is still firmly entrenched in the Dark Ages, in a world-wide Pandemic no-less - a new era where the dark recesses of our worst angels still lurk, ever-ready to strike out in rage. A time when the worst of humanity is only getting worse. Yet hiding under all the inherent, violent chaos lies a very faint glimmer of hope for humanity going forward. We're just not certain where to start, is all (sound of hysterical laughter..).