Abominable encounter

Shorttail roamed the rocky, snow-dusted terrain of the Himalayas, his sharp blue eyes searching for prey. His thick gray fur protected his magnificent form from the icy winds that blew spitefully at him. The bristling hairs rippled in the breeze, like waves in the sea. Sharp snowflakes landed on the tips of his ears and melted into droplets of moisture. He had honed his hunting skills over many years in these mountains, but with no one to share his triumphs and victories with, he felt a deep loneliness. He paused, sniffing for the slight scent of a small mountain goat he had been tracking for days, before continuing on its trail.

As the big cat made his way across the uneven ground, his heart skipped a beat as he spotted the telltale outline of an enormous figure appearing through the swirling fog. Its long, grayish fur matted and covered in the snow told him this was a man-beast of the rocks. In his long wanderings through the fields of snow-covered boulders he had seen only a few from a distance, and there had always been something wrong with their wind-borne smell. He had always and still stayed away, as from everyone else for that matter.

He tensed his muscles and prepared for battle when the fog cleared and the beast appeared in all its majesty before him. It was an improbable being with a broad, flat, expressionless snout, far taller than a big bear, and strands of grayish thick fur covering its large body. Shorttail shuddered as he stared at it. The abomination seemed uncertain, then struck the ground hard with one foot and charged forward. The snow leopard ducked just in time to avoid being hit by the snowman’s huge paws. As the incredible creature passed, Shorttail turned its head to watch it slam into a rocky outcrop. Suddenly, a low rumble shook the air and knocked the big cat off balance as he tumbled down the gravelly slope a few feet. He lifted his head and looked around quickly, but saw nothing; until he looked up. The impossible bear-like creature stood inches away from him, with that inexpressive snout of his but with strange yellow eyes shining at him in triumph. The eyes were as bright as firefly swirls.

The towering creature approached with a fierce growl, its massive arms swinging in the air. Shorttail leaped and darted and dodged the oncoming attacks with ease. His sharp claws sliced through the air, leaving deep gashes in the snowman’s thick hide. The creature smelled incredibly unpleasant, and its flesh would certainly not be a meal worth eating. It was as if the stench was coming out of the wounds.

Shorttail crouched low to the ground, eyes locked onto his opponent, so alien that its smell did not resemble anything in this world. At a distance, he watched as the muscles on either side of its shoulder strained against the thick fur. With a mighty leap, the big cat leaped into the air and pounced on the abominable snowman’s back. Clinging to its fur the leopard plunged his teeth deep into the flesh and held on with all his might. The creature’s skin was thick and incredibly tough but eventually, it tore, unexpectedly releasing a puff of stinking gas. No blood, how was that possible? Just that unbearable stench.

The big yellow-eyed beast howled with such force that he made the sky rumble. Shorttail felt the trembling in his bones, and the earth shook as if an earthquake had struck. The abomination let out another terrible howl, and then another. He was losing control of himself. His screams grew louder and louder until they became a deafening roar that echoed through the mountains. Yet, they were not screams. He had heard the sounds of men when, intrigued by the strange, hardworking creatures, he had pushed to the edge of the villages while remaining invisible to their eyes.

The large creature writhed as it continued to leak that violet gas from the spot where it had bitten him then the scream seemed to choke when he brought his large hands to his head and with a dry twist tore it off. A red light flicked off and on in the snow leopard’s astonished gaze. Inside the fur and in the midst of that impossible light there seemed to be the head of an inner creature with big black eyes peering at him with hatred.

Suddenly, there was a blinding flash of light and Shorttail was thrown back by another immense shock wave. The being inside what had been the snowman was still staring at him as the air around him seemed to fizzle. Thick grayish fur and a now-dull-eyed head lay among the rocks at his feet. The leopard looked up from the ground: a huge black dot obscured, for a moment, the sun. As that thing got closer it was clear that it did not have the organic forms of nature, but rather seemed to be some kind of huge rock that reflected as a lake, shimmering, the colors of the sky. He could feel gravity increasing, the air becoming heavy and thick. He could taste it, it was thick, charged with the electricity that seemed to crackle the air with potential. It was the taste of a storm to come. Shorttail felt the hairs on his back stand up due to the electrical charge in the air. He felt the hairs on his tail tense up quivering. This was something that had never happened to him in all his years of solitary wandering.

The air crackled as the glittering rock approached. He could now clearly see that it was an otherworldly thing and that just beneath it was the creature that had inhabited the snowman’s fur. It seemed that the being was somehow communicating with the huge object above its head as it pointed at him. The floating object came even closer, stopping a few meters from the snow leopard. A crack opened in the mirrored surface and a beam of warm yellow light embraced it. There was no threat and somehow he had the feeling of receiving a caress. He sensed that someone was apologizing for the attack and confrontation and admitting his physical superiority.

Shorttail felt something stir in his mind, leaving a tingling sensation that warmed his body before quickly subsiding. The leopard brought his gaze back with difficulty to the being in front of him just in time to see it rise in the crack of the reflective rock that had come close to him. The strange huge thing that flew without wings and made all his hair stand on end hovered over him once more, very close. This time, however, the golden ray drew a circle beside him in the snow and inexplicably, out of nowhere, a female of its kind appeared beside him as if composing itself from the moisture in the air.

The object shot into the air with a roaring pop and a flash of light. The shock wave pulsed through Shorttail’s fur like hundreds of small hands rubbing him to wakefulness. But he had no time to waste as his gaze was firmly fixed on her: the female who smelled like home and shrouded him with a sense of safety. Abandoning his old lone life, Shorttail walked away with her into the unknown future.