- I was looking forward to going home. As thrilling as tracking cheetahs to study their family habits was, Africa was not a particularly pleasant place for the unaccustomed, and I fit that word quite well. It would be nice to sleep in an actual bed instead of on a cot in a tent.
The sun was setting and the air was already cooling down a good bit. It was our last night here. The data we had collected on cheetahs was incredible, and Dr. Kraum could not wait to return to the states in order to properly analyze it. I was doing a last minute look-over to make sure everything was properly packed away. We were leaving before the sun would even brush the horizon in order to make the plane.
"And this completes the list!" I smiled, pleased that all was accounted for as I stuffed my college sweatshirt into my bag. I stretched and yawned, exhaustion having set in a good while ago. Regardless, one last look was deemed necessary. So I stepped outside of my tent to breath in the strange and lovely air. The high-pitched whine of flying insects prompted my to swish about my ears, hoping to deter the hungry mosquitoes. Of course that never did much good, but it made me feel better. The sun was nearly gone from the sky, leaving the savanna dark and eerie. The glowing eyes of unrecognizable shapes looked at me from far away. I was safe here in the camp, though. The thought didn't stop me from nearly jumping out of my skin when the long grass near me suddenly rustled with movement. I swallowed and approached slowly.
"Hello?" I wanted to smack myself when the word involuntarily left my lips. That's what the minor characters always say in horror movies before they're killed. This was life though, not a movie, so the same logic didn't apply...right? The doubt won over the logic when, in response to my greeting, a serpentine shape appeared above the grass. It appeared to be a snake, an emerald tree boa perhaps, but that was impossible, and it was impossibly large. Of course snakes rarely attacked unprovoked, so I simply froze, trying not to draw attention to myself. The snake moved...but its movements were all wrong. It slowly stalked out of the brush, and my mouth gaped. Maybe I shouldn't have had that last drink with the group to celebrate...or maybe I was absolutely coherent. Either way, the creature before me was unlike anything else I had seen before because it looked like several creatures I had seen before. A strange chimera, a creature of nightmares, and yet somehow totally balanced. Its serpentine neck kept its head aloft, looking over the grass. Its muscular body was covered in the sleek, spotted pelt of an African leopard, and was supported on four nimble deer-like legs. A long, furred tail slowly drifted from side to side behind it.
"What the heck..?" I whispered to myself, and instantly regretted it. Apparently the snake-leopard-deer-thing had decent hearing, as it whipped its head about at my voice and took on the familiar stance of a defensive snake. Its mouth opened wide, revealing formidable fangs from which small droplets of venom formed. "Woah, hey, easy now!" I very slowly backed up. I did not want to find out just how venomous this thing was.
The creature slowly relaxed its jaw and glared at me with cool regard. Then, as if cued by an unseen force, it whirled and disappeared back into the brush, vanishing as quickly as it had appeared.
Thankful to still be alive and well, I retreated to my tent. Feeling safe again, I rubbed my eyes and sat down on my bed.
Yep, it would be very good to go home.
