Hatch
/Mystery revealed by deeper mystery
————
The 6-point earthquake did a lot of damage, but the town closest was too far away to even notice - except for seismograph reports they heard on the news.
At the epicenter of the quake, a mountain had been reduced to rubble. Sitting atop the rubble was a largish white egg that had been suspended-in-time for millions of years.
The egg quivered, then cracked, a miniature velociraptor emerged. Hatched alone in a nonthreatening wilderness, it had all the time and opportunity needed to grow to full adulthood.
The first the townspeople knew of the creature was missing pets and a signature-hatch of opposing claw marks made when the velociraptor slashed its prey to pieces.
The signature-hatch was confusing. It was obviously made by claws, but what local animal ever made such a weird claw hatch. Puma, bears, and wolves, all used their teeth to strangle their prey. Slashing was odd, spooky even. Alarming tales were gossiped around.
Stories were told of shrieking sounds in the darkness.
Everything from Demons to Flying Saucers was implausibly suggested.
Panic spread.
People were afraid to let children and pets go anywhere without supervision. Some kept their kids home from school. Public activity slowed to a crawl. Movies and bars had to close. Nobody even went to the supermarket except in broad daylight, and armed.
The City Council thought they had to put a lid on the wild speculation. They formed a cosseted task-force dedicated to uncovering the truth. They issued no reports on their progress, fearing reports without real information would only fan the flames of the panic.
Their well-intentioned secrecy made matters worse. Now there were rumors of Government Coverup for who knows what sinister purpose.
Finally the hatch was torn off the “coverup”, by the discovery of savagely dismembered goats on a nearby farm. Around the caprine pieces-parts were very large and very clear claw prints.
A team of paleontologists from the state university had no trouble identifying the prints as made by a velociraptor.
Mystery revealed by deeper mystery - what’s a velociraptor doing in the 21st century?
Who knows?
Who knows why a simple word like, hatch, has three completely different meanings.
By K. L. Shipley
Website: http://www.eclecticessays.com