Journal Entry: May 16, 2017

Ah the hunt! What an ancient and honorable craft - so thrilling! As if every time I put my hand to the earth to feel the warmth of a footprint or taste the freshness of a snapped twig I can feel generations of my ancestors flowing through me with all their knowledge and excitement.

I had become quite bored, as you know, without the hunt for a whole of six months and 21 days. But huzzah! The island boy came to me last night with a new specimen, quite unexpectedly! He said there was a boat that became ensnared in the island’s reef and there was but one survivor. It’s just as well, this allows me some well-deserved fun.

A gorgeous specimen the island boy procured for me. She is lithe, quick, and seems to be of above average intelligence. Defiant and feisty if her words are any indication. This hunt promises to be one with more equal footing than the last. Although she will surely be killed in the end, as is the natural order of things, she may be my specimen, my prey, for more than two days. Oh how exciting a thought!

If all has gone according to plan, she should have had a head start of precisely 24 hours. I do hope she has used her time wisely. It would be so disappointing to find her cowering in a tree like a common cat or in a hole like a spider that cannot bear to face the world. If I wanted to hunt for cats or bears, I would not waste away in boredom waiting for the perfect specimen for such long periods. No. I think she will be clever, my specimen.

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I am beginning to enter what I call my “predator mind” now. My senses begin to sharpen. I can almost hear my specimen’s battle as she clamps her hand over her mouth to silence her cries, taking jagged steps as she attempts to dodge the many traps I have laid just for her, the thumping of her heart as she wonders when her luck will run out.

Today the hunt begins for the king of the beasts: human.