Sally and I took a shortcut through the park on the way home from school. I went to kick a ball around with Harry and Lucas and kept playing until Lucas’s mum stopped gossiping with other mothers and told us that play time was over. “See ya.” I waved, then turned to look for Sally and found her rummaging in a dirt pile in a nearby building site.
I said, “Time to go.”
When Sally stood, I saw she was covered from the knees down in mud.
I swore, “#@$%! Mom’s gonna have fit when she sees you.”
“Look!” Sally said as she held out a muddy, fluff ball.
“What's that?”
“Beast.”
“Another Beast?” Every stray animal she’d ever found was called Beast, “Put it back.” I said.
Sally looked at me with sad puppy eyes and I melted, “You know what’s gonna happen, don’t you?”
She shrugged, “Hmm, maybe not.”
Muttering sweetly, she put Beast in her bag, then Sally took my hand and we raced home.
Puppy or kitten, the result would be the same. Our parents would make us put up posters, and if no one claimed the animal within a week, the creature would go to a shelter.
That night, I heard howling far off in the distance for over an hour. It stopped as suddenly as it started.
On Saturday, Mom said, There’s a wild animal loose in the area. Hope it isn’t diseased.”
“The rangers will find it.” said Dad.
Sally spent all day in her room looking after Beast, but Mom didn’t know this and became concerned that Sally might be ill. So she checked her temperature, gave her a dose of Castor oil and sent Sally to bed.
On Sunday morning, there were warnings about a potentially rabid dog in the neighbourhood. By evening, as usual, Mom had prepared a roast dinner. Unusually, Sally had set the table without being nagged and was already in her chair when I sat next to her. I saw some movement from the corner of my eye and whispered, ”Why have you’ve got Beast on your lap?”
She was about to say something when Mom put the platter of meat and vegetables on the table. Dad and Mom sat down and Dad doled out servings to everyone. Sally chopped her food into tiny pieces. Mom watched her with suspicion, “Are you feeling sick, Baby?”
“No, Momma.”
Beast grumbled softly. On hearing this, Mom reached over and felt Sally’s forehead. “You don’t look well."
“But I’m alright…”
“Leave her.” said Dad.
Sally ate the morsels of food and surreptitiously snuck some to Beast when Mom wasn’t looking. Beast seemed to have grown since Friday or maybe that was due to the fact that Sally had given it a bath and it was fluffier than before. When dinner was over, Mom peered at Sally and said, “I think you should go to bed." Sally gave Mom the sad puppy eyed look, “Okay, Momma.”
Before Sally left the table, I dropped a fork to divert Mom’s attention. Sally shoved Beast in her coverall pocket. From my vantage point under the table, I saw Beast’s long tail whisking as Sally retreated. I cleared the table, did the washing up, then went to Sally's room. Beast was growing rapidly he was already knee high. I shoved Sally out of the way to get a closer look at Beast.
I said,“What’s wrong with it’s tail?”
“Nothing.”
Beast had a cute face, button bright eyes, fluffy, chubby body. A nose that was bigger than a cat’s but smaller and pointier than a dog’s. The tail was losing its fur and there was a hard lump on the tip. and two nubbins just under the fur on it's back. Did I imagine it’s tongue was purple?
I said, “Maybe we should show Dad.”
“No!” Sally dropped to the floor, covering the Beast with her body. Hearing Sally's loud protest, Mom knocked on the door. Sally pushed Beast under her bed and sat on the floor.
Mom demanded, “What’s going on?”
I quickly picked up ‘Fairy Sparklers’ and flashed the cover at her, “I wanted to borrow this game.”
“Isn’t that a bit young for you?” She said.
“I just wanted something easy to play.”
“Why don’t you go and play soccer with Lucas?”
“Is he home?”
“I just saw the family come…”
As I fled the room, I heard Mom tell Sally, “I’m worried about you, Missy…”
Lucas and I went to the park and kicked the ball around until six o’clock when Lucas’s dad called him inside. Curious about Beast, I headed to the building site. The hole in which Sally found him was deeper than before. Peering over the edge, I saw nothing but mud. I had a feeling that I was being watched, and heard rustling and movement in the bushes. I ran home without looking back. That night, the Beast smashed Sally’s bedroom window. She screamed so loudly I thought she was being killed. I ran in to find an enormous winged creature, standing over ten feet from nose to tip. The thing howled so loudly it set the neighbourhood dogs in a barking panic. Beast looked out the window at another creature of the same species hovering in the air near our house. Beast thrashed the furniture with it’s purple, leathery tail before leaping through the window to join it’s companion.
Sally was inconsolable. Our parents were horrified. The police were incredulous. Gossip was widespread. News services hounded us. We were internet sensations for two weeks until another video surfaced about Beasts in the Ukraine. There have been many more sightings since then.
What are they?
No one really knows.
