Lonely Backroads III — Another Sighting – Ghost Story
Until I started compiling this group of stories, the creature that had attacked my parents so long ago had not been something that I had thought about in a long time. My brother James, was helping me get started, and in the course of the conversation, this story arose. As you can see by the “Lonely Back roads” Addendum, he had something to add to the story– a more recent update of a second sighting. Stranger still, it seems that yet another has possibly occurred.
Our neighbors, Cathy and Danny, have recently purchased a plot of land and a mobile home in Smyth County, Virginia, near Saltville. As you know, this is the area of the first and the second sighting of this mysterious creature. Currently, they are using the home in Saltville as their second home, using it on weekends, and for holiday retreats.
A couple of weeks ago, Cathy, Danny and their two children were in route to their Smyth County home for a long weekend. To take advantage of less traffic, and to enjoy the scenery, the left the interstate roadway, and took a smaller, less busy side road that ran somewhat parallel to the highway. They were driving casually along, enjoying the pleasant, quite countryside. As they topped over a rise in the road, Danny was forced to slow the truck almost to a stop to prevent striking a large animal that darted into the roadway.
They sat there, amazed, and a bit frightened, as this huge creature crossed the road in front of them, jumped the ditch line, and over a fence, and proceeded in the high weeds lining the road to disappear into the ground cover.
According to all witnesses, this animal was unlike any they had seen before. Walking on all four legs, it stood around three feet high. Covered in shaggy, rough greying brown fur, it had a long, muzzle and small, pointed ears. The legs of the creature were short, with the hind legs much larger than the front, and sporting long, kangaroo like rear feet. Claws were evident on both the hind, and smaller front feet. If this creature had stood on these powerful looking hind legs, they stated, it would have been at least five and a half to six feet tall. It also sported a long, hairless (opossum like was the term they used) tail.
Though moving quickly, it gave the appearance in its gait and the gray mottled fur of an older animal. They watched in amazement as it quickly disappeared from sight.
If this indeed were the same creature that was witnessed by my parents, it would have to be close to fifty years old, or even if it were the creature seen in the second sighting, it would have to be at least thirty years old. Such a life span would be amazing-but what if it were a descendant of one of the others? This seems even more amazing, for that would indicate that there are several of these creatures roaming about, BREEDING. Scary thought, right?
© Paulette Boyd
