by Mickey Hunt
"Your aunt wrote to me about the strange happenings
at the Swan Mountain Retreat Center. She
said they foreshadowed the potential end of all humanity.”“Holy Moley! The end of all humanity?” I pulled off to the side and a car blared its horn as it flew by. “She never told me. It’s worse than I guessed.”
“You don’t think she exaggerated?”
I shook my head. “Mr. Jonathan T. Barron, be real careful there. My Aunt Ilana never exaggerates. The end of humanity. Whew.” I put the truck in gear and resumed our drive.
"O-kay,” he said. “Trash raided, dogs and cats eaten, mangled birds lying on the ground, the larder broken into and food stolen. Wild screams in the darkness." He removed a photograph from his pocket and flashed it to me. "What do you think this is?"
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This dark photo is not a giant dead hemlock tree. It's a manifestation of Judaculla, a monster that haunts the deep forests of western North Carolina.
ReplyDelete"Turtle" just received Honorable Mention in the Writers of the Future contest, Quarter One of 2014.
ReplyDeleteI took the photo of the carved stone turtle today at the Cherokee museum.
ReplyDeleteHere's a link to the Qualla Arts and Crafts Mutual, Inc. store in Cherokee, NC. They sell wood turtles carved by Cherokee native Americans. http://www.quallaartsandcrafts.com/gallery.php
ReplyDelete