Something creeping in the fog

 

Hershey and I ordinarily leave for our walk while the world's still dark. The silence lends an opportunity to meditate. But today I woke up late. The customary stillness was replaced by mechanical moans from garage doors, the rattling of chains under the school bus, and muffled voices. 

Add to that a weirdly dense fog formed by the Ohio River and our topography. The water droplets suspended within this cloud soup would shift and swirl if batted at. Wisps rippled from Hershey's tail. It pressed in on us as we went. I could see my dog but little else around us. Trying to take a picture was pointless. No flash, dull fuzz. Flash, white wall. The damp seeped into clothing and blanketed the scents in the alley. Hershey gave up tracking rabbits and plodded along beside me for a change.

Anyone that is familiar with my water tower adventure can vouch for my imagination getting the best of me. Logic would normally prevail now that I'm adult. Yet it's still healthy to slip a toe into fantasy now and then.

Something creeping in the fog

The obfuscated noisy things around us coalesced into a formidable creature. It was long and clattery, and seemed to stalk us - we in our alley and it on the road. 

We heard it stop on occasion, perhaps straining to hear our footfalls on gravel. Or, more likely, it had caught a child and was devouring it. Their squeals and fog-smothered voices seemed timed to whenever the creature paused.

 We pressed on past familiar hedges and outbuildings as the chains drew closer. And then, out of nowhere, it growled to a stop in front of the empty lot between us. 

BOWWW BOW BOW BOW WOW BOW BORK! 

I almost pee'd myself. Stupid hound. Hair bristling and body squared, he was ready to give that thing in the fog a piece of his mind.

Now safe thanks to his valiant efforts, we headed for home.

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Image credit: "Something creeping in the fog", Alexiuss

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