My name is Jackie Nico; my family and friends call me Jack for short. And yes, I'm a bit of a Tomboy, ok a lot like a Tomboy, hunting, fishing, mudding, working on cars, ain't afraid to get dirty.
I live out in an old barn style cabin in the woods of West Virgina, which makes me a country girl, just me, my dog, my truck and my horse.
My cabin has a wrap-around porch, recently painted black, along with the rest of the cabin. There's an actual barn off to the side of the cabin that's where my horse Demon lives, my dog Axle stays up in the cabin with me, my truck is just steps away from my porch. I don't have a neighbor for miles, which is something I like.
Don't get me wrong, I love my family and friends, but the hustle and bustle of town life can wear on you and getting to come home to a home where the only sounds are the crickets, owls, frogs, the occasional call of a pack of coyotes, the baying of a horse, the barking of a dog, typing of a keyboard, music, sometimes tv, or the turning of a page from a book was my all-time comfort level.
Tonight is a night of quiet, the only sounds tonight are me turning the pages of a good book, the baying of my horse, mine and Axle's breathing, the breeze of the wind, the rustling of the changing leaves, me every once and a while picking up my copper mug of zero sugar cola to take a sip, and the slow upstart of the crickets and frogs.
The sun going down caught my eye, it was a beautiful red. I put my book down and went inside to get my camera, a sight like this shouldn't go to waste.
Axle followed me step for step as always. He's my little shadow, though he's not little, he's a pit/boxer and is very loving and loyal.
As I turned my camera on to take the picture of the setting sun, I noticed that the crickets and frogs had stopped making noise.
I knew from hunting and being out in the woods hiking that is the forest goes quiet, there's something there that shouldn't be.
I'd been living here for several months now, and this was the first time that this has happened.
Even Demon has gone quiet, and Axle is on alert, he's listening and watching out in front of the cabin. I've learned to trust an animal's instincts and if these two are on alert and quiet, there's a predator out there. I'm thinking bear, bobcat, or even a cougar.
But I haven't seen any of those since moving here, I've seen deer and a couple of skunks and several squirrels, plenty of prey animals but none of the predators, until now, or at least, I thought it was one of them.
It was down at the end of my driveway, on the other side of the road that leads out of my little hollow, there was just enough light left for me to make it out, it was upright leaning against a large oak, it's paw on the tree, but it didn't look like a bear, it was dark like a bear, but it just didn't look right.
About the time I saw it, Axle clocked it and growled at it, and that was when it growled back, nothing like Axle's growl or any dog's growl I've heard, it was deeper, rougher, louder, it bared it's teeth, ears pinned back, shoulders hunched, I reach for my gun at my hip, ready to defend myself and my dog from whatever the hell this was.
But the second my hand went to my gun, the beast stopped its growl and took off down the mountain side, faster than a bear and still upright, bears don't run upright.
" Axle, let's get back in the house. " I say slowly, still trying to understand what it was I saw. Keeping my hand on my gun, I back up into my cabin and once inside, I lock my doors and windows, push the couch against the front door, and freezer chest against the back door, run upstairs to get my rifle and extra ammo for both it and my side arm and setup where I can see the barn in case that creature comes back to go after Demon and I can defend him from up here.
Axle right by side and still on alert, I had shoved my dresser in front of my bedroom door, giving me a little bit of time defend myself and Axle if that thing comes back and decides to come after me instead.
I won't be sleeping tonight as I watch outside for any sign of the creature, thankful for the floor lights that I have setup around my home and barn in case a bear or mountain lion came onto the property.
I spent the night looking and wondering what it was I saw. I knew what I saw, but I guess I was in denial and refused to believe that I had actually saw it. I had read, watched, and heard about this creature before but didn't really believe it. Not until tonight and I became one of those people who had saw and encountered one.
I saw a Dogman outside my cabin.