before earthquakes I had seen in movies, but more like the entire world had just jumped five feet into the air and landed again with an ungainly thud. Then, for a few moments, there was nothing. I began to wonder if I had imagined it. But, just as I turned to Aurelius to enquire as to whether he had felt it too, it happened again. And again. And again.
THUD! THUD! THUD!
The hollow sound echoed through the forest like the beat of a giant’s drum, each hit of the skin accompanied by another earth-shaking tremor. Each thud was louder than the last and occurred closer to the next. It was then that it hit me; I wasn’t experiencing an earthquake at all, but simply footsteps. Big footsteps. Something was coming our way, something enormous, and it was coming fast.
I could have run, perhaps I should have run, certainly most people I knew would have run. But most people didn’t have magical powers. It wasn’t most people’s job to protect the vulnerable. I had already turned and fled at the first sign of danger once that week, I was determined not to do so again. Or perhaps I was simply too scared to do so – I forget now. And so, whether through paralysing fear or foolish stubbornness, I stood and waited to see what emerged from the forest.
“GRRARRGHHH!!!”
The cry that came from out of the bushes was the most frightening sound I had ever heard.
“GRRARRGHHH!!!”
It came again. Louder than before. Closer than before.
I could see the bushes moving in front of me, small trees being sucked from the horizon as everything in the as yet invisible creature’s path was demolished. And then, suddenly, there were no bushes. It had arrived.
“GRRARRGHHH!!!”
It cried once more (for to me, it was still most definitely an ‘it’, indeed, even though it stood before me in broad daylight, loudly wailing its cry of death, I still could not have said what it was. I would almost have called it a man, for it had two arms, two legs, a torso and a head, just like any other man. And yet it was not a man. There was something distinctly inhuman about it. For a start, it stood well over ten feet tall). As I stood their examining the creature, fear and disbelief rooting me to the spot - the faintest whisper of courage having left me at the moment my eyes met with the thing’s, there was something else about this creature that told me that he was not human.
“GRRARRGHHH!!!” the creature that was not human cried again, while performing some sort of strange, angry, tribal dance in front of us which involved a great deal of hopping and shouting. I only hoped it wasn’t part of some sacrificial ritual.
“Oh, Barry, whatever is the matter, old chap?” asked Aurelius.
Old Chap! I didn’t know what I was more shocked at; the fact that Aurelius so calmly entered into conversation with this deranged beast, or the fact that the deranged beast possessed a name as innocuous and undemonic as Barry.
“MY FOOOTTT!!!” wailed the enormous, angry monster. “MY FOOOOTT!!!” he cried again, holding his enormous left foot as if to illustrate his assertion.
“What’s wrong with your foot, dear fellow?”
“It hurts,” Barry replied, his voice softening. He was quickly beginning to sound more like a simple-minded little girl than a fearsome monster. “I got a splinter.”
“I see,” Aurelius said soothingly, as though he were speaking to a two year old who had grazed their knee. “Well, let’s see if we can do something about that shall we?” And with that he walked over to Barry and, to my great surprise, removed his hat and took from within it a pair of pliers.
“Ah yes, I see it. Now, hold still, Barry, this may hurt just a little, but then it will be all over, okay?”
“Okay,” agreed Barry.
“AAAAAARRRRRRRRGGGGGHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!”
It was the loudest cry yet, and brought with it child-like tears that looked decidedly out-of-place as they rolled down the creature’s hard, leathery cheeks.
“All done,” Aurelius
THUD! THUD! THUD!
The hollow sound echoed through the forest like the beat of a giant’s drum, each hit of the skin accompanied by another earth-shaking tremor. Each thud was louder than the last and occurred closer to the next. It was then that it hit me; I wasn’t experiencing an earthquake at all, but simply footsteps. Big footsteps. Something was coming our way, something enormous, and it was coming fast.
I could have run, perhaps I should have run, certainly most people I knew would have run. But most people didn’t have magical powers. It wasn’t most people’s job to protect the vulnerable. I had already turned and fled at the first sign of danger once that week, I was determined not to do so again. Or perhaps I was simply too scared to do so – I forget now. And so, whether through paralysing fear or foolish stubbornness, I stood and waited to see what emerged from the forest.
“GRRARRGHHH!!!”
The cry that came from out of the bushes was the most frightening sound I had ever heard.
“GRRARRGHHH!!!”
It came again. Louder than before. Closer than before.
I could see the bushes moving in front of me, small trees being sucked from the horizon as everything in the as yet invisible creature’s path was demolished. And then, suddenly, there were no bushes. It had arrived.
“GRRARRGHHH!!!”
It cried once more (for to me, it was still most definitely an ‘it’, indeed, even though it stood before me in broad daylight, loudly wailing its cry of death, I still could not have said what it was. I would almost have called it a man, for it had two arms, two legs, a torso and a head, just like any other man. And yet it was not a man. There was something distinctly inhuman about it. For a start, it stood well over ten feet tall). As I stood their examining the creature, fear and disbelief rooting me to the spot - the faintest whisper of courage having left me at the moment my eyes met with the thing’s, there was something else about this creature that told me that he was not human.
“GRRARRGHHH!!!” the creature that was not human cried again, while performing some sort of strange, angry, tribal dance in front of us which involved a great deal of hopping and shouting. I only hoped it wasn’t part of some sacrificial ritual.
“Oh, Barry, whatever is the matter, old chap?” asked Aurelius.
Old Chap! I didn’t know what I was more shocked at; the fact that Aurelius so calmly entered into conversation with this deranged beast, or the fact that the deranged beast possessed a name as innocuous and undemonic as Barry.
“MY FOOOTTT!!!” wailed the enormous, angry monster. “MY FOOOOTT!!!” he cried again, holding his enormous left foot as if to illustrate his assertion.
“What’s wrong with your foot, dear fellow?”
“It hurts,” Barry replied, his voice softening. He was quickly beginning to sound more like a simple-minded little girl than a fearsome monster. “I got a splinter.”
“I see,” Aurelius said soothingly, as though he were speaking to a two year old who had grazed their knee. “Well, let’s see if we can do something about that shall we?” And with that he walked over to Barry and, to my great surprise, removed his hat and took from within it a pair of pliers.
“Ah yes, I see it. Now, hold still, Barry, this may hurt just a little, but then it will be all over, okay?”
“Okay,” agreed Barry.
“AAAAAARRRRRRRRGGGGGHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!”
It was the loudest cry yet, and brought with it child-like tears that looked decidedly out-of-place as they rolled down the creature’s hard, leathery cheeks.
“All done,” Aurelius
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