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big ole stir
the chickens went ape.
screaming like women.
and i went outside with ellroy.
and i felt something.
a presence.
not yer average raccoon/opossum/feral kitty-type presence.
something bigger.
with weight.
and i didn't see, no. it was dark.
but i advanced, picked up silkie; one of my chicks, and she screamed bloody murder, like some last death cry before being devoured alive.
so i approached, and this thing -- it moved slowly.
when it wanted.
because it wasn't afraid.
and there was a moment when the power changed.
when this human wasn't the top dog in his environment.
nope.
fear.
primal fear set in, just for a second, but it was there and i wished i'd taken my pistol with me that night.
because i heard something that i've only heard @ a zoo.
a ROAR.
a no-shit roar of some big cat.
deep.
resonating.
intimidating.
a ROAR.
ellroy literally jumped in my arms.
so i backed up real slow.
backed up into my house, locked the door, and went for my .22lr
-- which was probably a mistake, small caliber like that useless.
anywho, the cougar/mountain lion/werewolf/goth kid out for chicken blood, absconded.
heavy footsteps crunching away along the canyon's perimeter.
and then nothing.
nada.
it was gone and i was standing there -- 3am, holding my pistol and my pooch, wondering what the hell just breached my fence and set the fear.
