Red

The leaves rustled at my every step like a pile of potato crisps under my feet. I tried to imitate the stealthy movement of the cheetah I once saw on Discovery channel but my efforts were in vain. A rustling sound in the bushes few yards away caught my eye. The bushes were as thick as King Kong's fur so I could barely make out what it was but there was no denying that the creature was humongous.

My first encounter of the night; i took aim as though i was shooting for gold in the Olympics and diligently pulled the trigger. My jay dropped to the floor as my much lauded dart bounced off the creature like a wee toothpick. I was taken aback.

I took a few cowardly steps toward the creature as i was adamant not to go home empty handed; my ego overcame my fear. This time the creature felt my dart and stood erect which sent ripples down my spine; the creature was over nine feet tall! I began to panic and fear was writ all over my face but i couldn't help a smirk as the wolf-like creature had a striking resemblance to my Physics teacher who used to wring us like a soaked piece of ragged cloth. The thundering growl of the creature brought me back to the present.

The creature leaped forward; 300 kilos of gnarling fury came hurling towards me but i managed to dodge it 007 style! I never realized that I was endowed with hyper reflex until that night. Before I could regain composure the creature pounced on me again and pierced its razor sharp claws through my arm. 'I wasn't ready.' I mumbled but the creature did not seem to play by the rules. At this point I realized that i was not the only one blessed with hyper reflex. I squealed in pain and tried hard to fight back but all my efforts were in vain. As I grew silent the only sound audible to me was the shredding of my flesh and my thundering heartbeat.

At this point i promised myself to write a story on the incident if my life was spared; those promises you make when you're seriously messed up in the head. I began to pray and read aloud Bible verses. "Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death i will fear no evil for You are with m....." and suddenly the humongous, thick-furred heavy creature vanished in thin air. Miracles do happen, I decided as I dragged myself home with an arm bleeding profusely. Maybe the creature read my thought of writing a story on the incident so he spared my right hand, i thought and managed a weak smile.

My Dad received me at the door and his face turned pale at the sight of my shredded arm. I was too shaken to do any explaining . I underwent a 'mini-surgery' as my Mom announced that it took 27 stitches to put me together. For the following days my room looked like a crammed hospital. Three months later my wounds healed but the scars remained. Days after my recovery the animals in our neighborhood began to disappear mysteriously and the stories circulating on of the whereabouts seemed suspiciously familiar to me. I was amused at the thought that the creature that attacked me months ago had come to apologize and to ask me a copy of the story.

One unfortunate night our dog disappeared without a trace. My Dad, who was much attached to our dog determined to hunt down the creature responsible for the 'Dog-napping', so in the dead of the night he left with his dart gun and I left for the comfort of my bed.

The next morning i woke up with a terrible pain in the back. Dad returned during lunch and proudly proclaimed that he shot the 'heartless creature' on the spine with his lucky red dart, as though a 3 year old reached the summit of Mt. Everest. I gave him a dirty look as he was blowing his trumpet at maximum volume. The description he gave on the physique of the creature brought back memories of my own encounter.

After lunch I was feeling nauseous so I decided to have a wall deserved afternoon nap. When I rested on my bed I felt a stinging sensation on my back. As a reflex I rose to my feet and checked my bed but no evidence explained the stinging pain that I could still feel on my back. I looked to the mirror to check the severity of my injury and punched it to smithereens as i could not believe my sight.

The red substance dripping from my fist did not bother me as i was too bothered by the red substance hanging down my spine; My Daddy's 'Lucky RED Dart!'