The Stalk
A short story by CE Wills
Copyright 2010 by CE Wills
Published by CE Wills at Smashwords
This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to actual people, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
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It was a magnificent beast. I thought that it must weigh close to five tons. It was fifteen feet tall at the shoulder and was probably twenty feet long. The mouth was filled with razor sharp teeth. On its back was a fan shaped fin which was quite pronounced. It was amphibious and when wounded, as it was now, its instinct was to flee to the water. It could stay under for a long time, then arise from the depths to wreak havoc again.
At the moment I was following its blood trail through woods that were too thick to see a great distance. There were plenty of spots where the creature could lie in wait for the unwary. It was certainly no problem finding the trail as it was marked by great red splotches. At the moment I was emerging from the thickest woods and winding along a path that ran beside a cliff. On my right and fifty feet below me was a sandy beach and beyond it was the ocean. To my left was forest.
To follow the blood trail of a wounded carnivore is one of the most nerve-wracking things imaginable. Especially one as big and as fast as a spinosaurus.
My palms were wet on the stock of my double-barreled shotgun and I was cursing myself for not buying the heavy express rifle for this hunt. My mouth was dry and my heartbeat was pounding in my temples. Constantly I looked to right and left with an occasional glance to my rear. The direction, not my anatomical part.
I had hit the great beast with a total of nine shots, although from a distance. That minimized the effectiveness of the pellets. The great red splotches at my feet were ample evidence that I had hurt him, but how badly?
I almost jumped out of my skin as I heard footsteps patter on the grass and pine needles to my left. Swinging the gun around in near panic, I almost shot a harmless dinosaur which was about the size of  a sheep and had a similar disposition.
Gathering my last shreds of machismo about me like a tattered cloak, I walked on. When I came to a part of the cliff which protruded a bit toward the ocean, I looked out to sea and saw the creature's fin sticking out of the water about 100 yards off-shore. Then he began to swim toward me at frightening speed. By the time I brought my sights to bear on him he had emerged from the water and was streaking toward the cliff I was standing on. I knew that I had five shells left in the gun and I swore to myself that if they found my dead body there would be no shells left in the weapon.
Boom! A hit, no visible effect.
Boom! Another hit. The brute paused, then dashed right, then left. It appeared to be terribly hurt and confused.
Boom! Two shells left now as the dinosaur scrambled up the cliff toward me.
Boom! Boom! The last two blasts were almost in his teeth. He fell dead a few feet from me. I must confess to a bit of a tremble in my hands as I contacted the extraction team to fly in and recover the massive carcass. Then I placed my I-Pad on the desk and gave a great sigh of relief. It was time to go to bed.
The End