But I Smile Anyway…

Sue’s photo prompt this week.

Oh, this was it! This was going to be the big one, she just knew it!

Rosie buried her hands deep into her pockets and stamped her feet a couple of times on the ground. Jeez it was cold! As she exhaled, her breath was captured in the air, like a cloud. Remember the days when you would pretend you were smoking, blowing out plumes of smoke?

She trained her eyes on the cave. Months, they had been trailing it, this creature, that had captured the fascination, at first, of the locals, then slowly it became a nationwide interest.

The Black Ghost. No one knew what it was, but the descriptions varied from witness to witness. A large dog, a panther, a cross between a wolf and a lion, speculation was rife! Luckily there had been no ‘victims’ as such, but petty thefts had been reported, you know, like food out of pets bowls.

Sightings were always around here, at dusk, with a darting creature spotted, but recently, it seemed that a more accurate location had been pinpointed to this cave.

Her camera was set. James had just popped to the garage a short drive away to pick up some hot drinks and snack supplies.

“Hurry up Jimbo…” Rosie muttered under her breath. She wasn’t scared, not really, but the moors could be an eerie place around this time of night.

Then she saw it.

Quick as a flash she got the camera focused and the shutter clicked away.

There it stood, looking back at her. A creature that was pure black, and almost impossible to see in the darkness. The photos she took only really registered the eyes. Two bright spheres, in the inky darkness.

And it looked like it was coming towards her!

Oh man, where was James????

But as it came closer, it wasn’t getting bigger, it appeared to get smaller, and Rosie’s expression changed from one of abject terror to a gooey smile.

This was no monster! It was a cat!

 A beautiful kitty, coal black with the most stunning emerald green eyes that she had ever seen!

It started winding its body around her legs, like her own at Fluffy would do and she instinctively reached down to stroke it.

~~~

A split second, that was all it took. James stared at the cave then at the camera on the floor in disbelief. He had been walking over to Rosie when he saw the creature approach her. Too late to say anything, he hurried over to her, only to witness her reaching down to stroke it, and then  – GONE!

Neither the creature nor Rosie were there.

Picking up the camera, he scrolled back to see if there was anything in the photos.

A series of shots showed a shadowy creature, unclear, but with every frame, it looked different… from a scary looking snarling hound, it seemed to morph into what looked like a domestic cat.

Calling out Rosie’s name held no response.

James picked up the bits of equipment they had set up, and hurried back to the car.

He was still no wiser as to what the creature was, but it was clear now, this thing was dangerous…