I stand at the border of the forest, amidst grasping root and snaking vine. And I listen. I can hear you snuffling in the green darkness. Your breath sucks in and blows out. In my mind’s eye I can see the moist cavity of your lungs ballooning and deflating. A breeze scratches among the leaves and I freeze. Your snorting ceases. The deep shadows become still. A scrabble of earth, the ripping of vines and you, the Animal, are gone.

I wait until daylight when sunlight dapples the forest floor. I hear you roar, greeting the new day and I search for you. Following your razor-like tracks in the leaf mould, I walk beneath tall trees and beside rushing rivers. Would your sharp claws embrace me if I met you?

Your heavy stench drifts upon the close air. My nostrils flare in revulsion even as I strain eagerly forwards to…