Jaguar Moon

As if on cue, a single shaft of moonlight split the dark and illuminated the jaguar's face. Familiar ice-blue eyes locked with mine. I shrieked and fell back, so stunned I couldn't move a muscle.

I remembered the broken images in my latest vision of the future. I couldn't make sense of them, which frustrated me. Answers lay just beyond my grasp. I pressed my fingers to my temples, struggling to focus, focus, focus. To remember. To feel.

What was the use of clairvoyance if it didn't make sense?

And suddenly, incredibly, I knew.

My hands trembled as I pulled the moon necklace out of my tee and over my head. The clasp caught in my hair; I tugged it free.

Clutching the charm in my fist, I crawled the distance between me and the jaguar, which never moved a muscle. I held my breath as I looped the chain over its huge head and ears. Then I scurried back into the shadows on my side of the shelter and waited for... what? I couldn't get my head around what might, no, would, happen if I'd correctly interpreted my vision and my feelings.

The jaguar rose and tossed its head, howling as if in mortal pain. That unearthly sound echoed loudly inside our hideaway, filling it up with noise. I instantly second guessed my decision and scuttled forward to yank the necklace back. The jaguar snarled, a terrifying sound that nailed me to the spot. I cowered, whimpering.

Writhing, the cat retreated into the shadows, which looked even deeper and darker in contrast to the single shaft of moonlight. I strained to see and hear what happened, gave up, and closed my eyes. Dropping all mental barriers, I opened myself to everything one more time. I instantly wished I hadn't. A blast of agonizing pain took me right to the ground, where I curled up in a defensive ball and struggled to resurrect my emotional blockade. It worked... but barely.

I listened helplessly to the jaguar's torment as it thrashed against the rock wall again and again. Loose pebbles skittered past me in the dark. Dry leaves and dust swirled in the light. After an eternity of cacophony I heard one final, earsplitting yowl, then deathly silence. No wind in the trees. No insects. Not even the plink of a diehard raindrop. It was almost as if the entire universe waited as breathlessly as I.