While growing up in Eastern Arkansas, we always heard stories about there being Panthers in the area around the St Francis National Forest. It was told that they screamed like a woman and when people went to check on it, the panther would jump out of the trees and rip you open with their claws and suck your blood out. They were so fast that no one could out run them. They were solid black and the only thing you could see in the dark was their RED eyes. So this is where my story beings:
Dad had been working over on the Grey Place and finished up late. It had been raining all day and on the way home he had to travel through the National Forest. He always took a short cut to get home, which was a dirt and gravel road and it was about 3 or 4 miles through the forest until you got to a main road. He had just turned down this road when he slid off in the ditch and stuck the pick-up truck he was driving. There was no traffic down this road, so he decided to walk home and get a tractor to pull it out. He said that after walking about a mile, he heard a loud scream that sounded like a woman and the hair stood up on the back of his neck.....It's a Panther he thought!! He took off running hoping he could get a head start if it was panther.....He said that he was running so hard that when he went over a rise in the road that he lost his breath and fell down. About this time, he heard the scream again and then he really turned in on....breaking a 4 minute mile going down the "Burnt Gin Hill", which was a long hill where at one time a cotton gin had been. About half way down this hill along the hillside of the road, there was a cave....we always thought that it was a Bear cave, but some people said that Panthers were known to hang out in the cave. He said that he passed the cave so fast, he didn't think of looking inside, which he wouldn't have done it anyway. After arriving home and telling these stories, he asked me to go back with him to get the truck out..........as much as I liked to drive there was no way I was going to go back that night. I don't remember who he got to go back with him or if he waited until the next day to go and get the truck out.
Dad had been working over on the Grey Place and finished up late. It had been raining all day and on the way home he had to travel through the National Forest. He always took a short cut to get home, which was a dirt and gravel road and it was about 3 or 4 miles through the forest until you got to a main road. He had just turned down this road when he slid off in the ditch and stuck the pick-up truck he was driving. There was no traffic down this road, so he decided to walk home and get a tractor to pull it out. He said that after walking about a mile, he heard a loud scream that sounded like a woman and the hair stood up on the back of his neck.....It's a Panther he thought!! He took off running hoping he could get a head start if it was panther.....He said that he was running so hard that when he went over a rise in the road that he lost his breath and fell down. About this time, he heard the scream again and then he really turned in on....breaking a 4 minute mile going down the "Burnt Gin Hill", which was a long hill where at one time a cotton gin had been. About half way down this hill along the hillside of the road, there was a cave....we always thought that it was a Bear cave, but some people said that Panthers were known to hang out in the cave. He said that he passed the cave so fast, he didn't think of looking inside, which he wouldn't have done it anyway. After arriving home and telling these stories, he asked me to go back with him to get the truck out..........as much as I liked to drive there was no way I was going to go back that night. I don't remember who he got to go back with him or if he waited until the next day to go and get the truck out.
No comments:
Post a Comment