Story-A-Day #193: Sasquatch

SASQUATCH

The smell is overwhelming, an earthy ripe mingling of body odour and filth the practically brings tears to my eyes.

I can hear something crashing through the bushes, the loud kind of noise usually reserved for smaller animals. Only I can tell that whatever is in there, hidden just beyond the tree lines, is not small by any means.

The crashing sound of snapping undergrowth suddenly stops and I am aware of the impenetrable silence that has descended. I am not the only creature startled by the noise, not the only other living thing out here to be overwhelmed by the smell.

I stand transfixed next to the woodpile, carefully surveying the gloomy woods. I can just hear a light chuffing sound, almost like the panting of a gorilla at the zoo.

The only sound comes from the soft droplets of water making their way to the ground. Even the rain has stopped now though, feeling the same apprehension as me.

Suddenly, I can feel it, something watching me. Something unlike anything I have ever encountered before. I see them then, a pair of beady dark eyes staring at me from the forest. I think it is a trick at first, squint my eyes slightly and blink. Maybe it is just a trick, I think, my mind getting the best of me. And then it blinks.

My breath catches in my throat. Whatever it is watching me, it is tall, taller than a moose, and vaguely human. It stares, almost as if challenging me to make a move. I notice the matt of rusty terracotta fur that covers most of its face. I notice the cool intelligence in those dark eyes, the unwavering challenge this simple glance seems to emanate.

I see the dark lips part revealing a mouth full of flat, yellow teeth. A scream erupts through the forest sending birds to flight and a chill down my spine. The creature shifts and I can tell for the first time, just how massive it is.

It turns suddenly then, and storms off through the trees, the echo of its scream slowly fading as it disappears, the stench slowly dissipating.

There is only one thing that it could have been, but it is almost too much to fathom. Surely there is no such thing. It’s an urban legend. And yet, there is no other explanation.