White Coyotes and Other Ghostly Specters

Barely October, central Oklahoma’s weather has already turned chilly and misty – perfect Halloween weather. As a Halloween baby – well, almost, I was born on the 30th – I love this time of year. As a writer, I feel like penning a few ghost stories. No time for a full-blown short story, but I will tell you my inspiration for one when I get around to writing it.

Marilyn and I live on the southeast edge of Edmond, America. Unlike much of Oklahoma, Edmond is hilly and has many large trees. Creeks dissect the hills and many wild animals populate these creeks. The other night, I saw a particular animal outside my front door that you wouldn’t believe, even if I had managed to grab my trust camera and snap a picture before it ran away.

I feed my cats in the front yard and they don’t always finish their food. I know, I know - I can already sense my email heating up with veterinarians and other animal professionals telling me what an idiot that I am. Yes, I know about rabies but I love seeing these wild creatures up close. Last night I saw a wild creature that I didn’t expect.

It was a coyote, yes a coyote and not a fox or a dog. My cat Fang didn’t seem to notice, or to care, as the coyote ate cat food from his dish. Maybe he didn’t notice because the coyote was solid white. The animal either didn’t know that I was observing it through my storm door, or else didn’t care.

Not twenty feet away, I watched as the beast finished the cat food in the bowl, glanced around to see if anyone was near, and then disappeared into the darkness.

Was it a ghost coyote? I don’t think so. I saw it and so did my dogs in their nearby fenced area. They never stopped barking. Still, the coyote was ghostly white.

Barely October, our weather is already chilly and misty, and I am wondering what other specters of the night I will see before Halloween. I can hardly wait.

Gondwana

Boggy Creek Monster

I grew up about thirty miles from Fouke, Arkansas, the location of the 1960’s and 1970’s sightings of the infamous Boggy Creek Monster. I never personally saw the monster (read Bigfoot) but I discussed the sightings with a close friend that I trust and that lived near Fouke and had relatives there.

Bo Smith told me that at least two families in rural southwestern Arkansas saw the large humanoid on more than one occasion. Is it possible that at least one and perhaps a family of the creatures live in southwest Arkansas? The short answer is yes.

For those of you that have the pictures I published of Jeems Bayou, you already realize how much rough, swampy, hilly, unpopulated land lies within the three-state area known as the Ark-La-Tex. Could a wild animal hide forever in the woods of the Ark-La-Tex? Go into the forest and look for a deer in daylight, or a bobcat or coyote. It is unlikely that you will see one.

Have I personally seen a Bigfoot? No, but I have I seen and heard strange things in the forests of the Ark-La-Tex more times than I can remember. Is there really a Boggy Creek Monster? Maybe not but spend the night camping in southwest Arkansas sometime and I think it will cause you to admit that at least the possibility exists.

Louisiana Mystery Writer