The dossier
Appearance: Curly Ben is the newest arrival in the gorge, and you will spot the hair long before you spot the monster. A huge mop of long brown curls sits on top of his head, bouncing between his ears and getting into everything: his cocoa, his guitar strings, his supper. His fur is a soft denim blue, the same colour as his favourite jumper, which he insists is a coincidence. He's medium-sized for a Toe Monster. When he's working he pops on a pair of glasses, then loses them in his curls. They are almost always in his curls.
Personality: Curly Ben is friendly. Properly friendly. He loves a joke and he loves a laugh, and that's the problem. His laugh is enormous. It bounces off the cave walls, rattles the stalactites and has, on more than one occasion, given away the Toe Monsters' hiding place to passing walkers. El Hefe has had words. Ben has promised to laugh more quietly. Then somebody told a good joke and he forgot.
Day Job: Curly Ben is a software engineer, which in Toe Monster terms means he spends a lot of time staring at a glowing screen and muttering. He helps Big Rich keep the cave's computers running: the toe register, the sock inventory, and the list of children who have been spotted wearing sandals. Claude helps too. When Claude says something is fixed, Curly Ben goes and checks.
Cave Life: Curly Ben's cave is the noisy one. A basketball hoop is nailed to a stalagmite, and the rock floor has been worn smooth by dribbling practice. In one corner a games console is wired up to a TV he fished out of the river, in front of a beanbag permanently squashed into the shape of a Toe Monster. A guitar leans against the wall, and most evenings the sound of strumming drifts out across the gorge. Walkers think it's the wind. It isn't. There is also a small fridge full of caramel latte. Nobody knows where it gets its electricity.
Fun Fact: Curly Ben is a twin. Somewhere out there is another Toe Monster called Will. Nobody has ever seen them in the same cave at the same time.
Warning: Children, be sensible! If you hear a basketball bouncing, a guitar strumming or a great big laugh echoing round the rocks of Cheddar Gorge, Curly Ben is nearby. The good news is that you will hear him coming, because he has very heavy footsteps. The bad news is that there may be two of them.
