Tom, a young man, used to sell clothes. Once he took his pony and set off towards a remote village in the mountains. On his left, there were high black cliffs that towered over the pine trees on the right. It was a gloomy path, even at noon. As Tom entered a glen, the air became misty and eerily silent. The pony stopped abruptly. As it whinnied and tugged, Tom heard a ‘tap tap’ sound. It grew louder. The pony stamped its feet in terror. Through the mist, Tom saw a bear-like shadow, with ears flapping like bat wings. It disappeared into the dense darkness. Tom soothed the pony and they reached the village by evening. Around a fire that evening, Tom recounted his experience to the village men. “Boy, you are lucky!” said an old man, “Legends talk about a great creature as large as a bear with wing-like ears that roam the mountains! Few have survived to tell the tale!”
The Creature in the Mountains
