Sudden. Deafening. Close. Terrifying. Fight or flight? Fight what? Fly where? Is that terror coming from this direction? Or from this way? It must be right here. Impossible! I am in the house. Run outside or stay inside? What is that pounding in my head? NO! I can’t faint. Breathe.

At the front door the terror again. I have to see it. I have to know.  My Siamese cat DaVinci many times his normal size darts in. The deafening decibels surround me. Is something falling from the sky? is it a creature stalking its prey? Stalking me?

Imagine  Paul Bunyan dragging a bow across strings on a violin the size of a semi that he is holding over you or under you or behind you. I had consumed only the recommended medicinal dose of red wine before bed so I was not having an inebriated-induced nightmare. In case you were wondering.

This morning there are no prints in the soft earth anywhere around the house.  The Siamese is not interested in joining me on the front porch. My hands hurt and my neck and shoulders are screaming for relief from adrenaline pumped suddenly through my system at 4 in the morning.

Varied wildlife roams throughout Ripley County though I cannot always tell fact from fiction since I am city born and bred. What was the source of that petrifying sound and how can I keep it away?

This first appeared in The Prospect-News in my Close to Home column.  A local yokel teased me that perhaps a possum paid me a visit. I know they visit but they are relatively quiet. A neighbor has shared that mountain lion prints have been identified up the road a ways. These creatures have also been seen on game cameras throughout the area. After listening to vaious YouTube videos I have decided it was indeed a mountain lion I was hearing.