Aiden

** from chapter 7: I’m halfway to my feet when Billie stops me with a gentle touch to my arm. Pipe smoke curls about his head. His face is set in an uncharacteristic frown. “My spirit helper haunts my dreams of late,” he says. “She tells me Hatckotcapko walks the land again.” I sink back to the grass. Hatckotcapko. Long-Ears. A hairy, wolf-like monster the size of a small donkey, with a dog’s head, a horse’s tail and long pointed ears. The Seminole children’s boogeyman. Our chupacabra. It stalks the swamps and infects whoever it touches with horrible diseases. Your only warning Long-Ears is near is a horrible odor of decay. Evil intent draws him. Violence feeds his hunger. A child’s fairy tale. Telling myself so alleviates none of my disquiet. Billie’s dreams are often as prophetic as my own. It’s a disturbing omen. I squeeze his shoulder as I rise. “Thank you for your wisdom, uiyik imijosi.” **