Lanky Bird

My friends and I wanted to do something big together before we all went our separate ways at the end of the summer. We'd just recently graduated and decided we would take a trip to Mammoth Cave National Park for the weekend.
It was 5:30 in the afternoon when River and Henry pulled up to the campsite in Henry's beat-up silver Pontiac. My other friends, Noah and James, greeted them excitedly.

"You started a fire yet?" River asked, exiting the car, pistol on his hip.

"No, James brought these shitty fire starters that don't work." Noah groaned.

River was always the most outdoorsy person in the group. Though we were all raised in rural Kentucky, River spent more time in the wilderness, camping, hunting, fishing, hiking, etcetera. We had hoped to get the fire started before he got here so he wouldn't give us shit.

"The starters will work! Just give me one more try."

James grabbed another starter. It was an empty toilet paper roll with dryer lint stuffed in the middle. He hunched over the crumbling pile of sticks and dried leaves we made and tried to light it with a lighter. No luck.

"How did you get this idea again?" I asked James.

"My mom thought this would be a good idea. I don't know why they won't start. I figured the dryer lint would light right up."

He went back to trying to start the fire. When he once again failed, he grunted angrily and tossed the starter into the forest. It flew about 50 feet, hit a tree, and then thunked onto the forest floor.

"Dude! The national park is gonna fine us for that!" I said, hitting James on the shoulder.

"They won't find it. And besides, it'll decompress."

"Decompose?"

"Whatever."

I didn't know if the national park would fine us individually or if it would all fall onto me since I made the reservation but I knew I didn't want to find out.

I made my way into the woods carefully watching for any signs of poison ivy. Luckily it was close enough to the campsite that there was a small path that I assumed was made by people going out to pee. The path led me mostly to where the starter was. At least, where I thought the starter was. When I got there the spot was empty. All except a small tuft of lint stuck on a bush.

Confused, I pulled the piece of lint from the bush and looked around, scanning the forest floor. There was nothing. I looked around one more time when my eyes locked onto something no more than 40 feet away.

A yellow eye, like that of an eagle, peered just slightly from the side of the tree. Part of what I guessed was this animal's neck stuck out too. It was covered in white feathering. Or maybe hair? It was hard to tell. Perhaps what was most concerning was the height of it. Nearly reaching the first branch of the large oak tree, the animal had to be at least 20 feet tall.

I stood frozen. I felt ice shoot through my veins. My heart beat into overdrive. The creature just stared. Unmoving. Did it know I saw it? Did it care? What was this thing? Questions shot through my mind one after another until my focus on the creature was broken.

"Lucas! Lucas!"

I turned my head at the sound of my name. It was Henry. He walked up crunching leaves and twigs underfoot. I quickly turned back to look at the creature but it was gone.

"Did you find it?" Henry asked.

"No. I'm... not sure where it went." I kept my eyes on the tree. Waiting for that thing to poke its head out again.