Rohan couldn’t breathe. Not in the sense that anything was stopping him from doing so – but as he had entered the eighteenth hour of silently and motionlessly waiting, deep in the heart of the forests of Saskatchewan, with only the insects who inhabited this layer of the ecosystem for company and a pack of diazepam and a bar of Hershey’s for food, the creature had finally lumbered into the clearing. And he simply couldn’t afford to breathe, lest he sacrifice the prize for which he came here.

As he watched the giant through the scope of his PSG-1 sniper rifle, Rohan found it difficult to concentrate on the task at hand. He’d never seen anything like the creature before him – the hoax videos, drawings and blurry, inconclusive photos did nothing to prepare one for the reality. Ten feet tall, with all but its face and torso covered in a thick brown fur that reminded Rohan not of an animal’s, but of his own unwashed hair. He was forced to suppress a snigger as the animal scratched its rear whilst bending over to inspect some berries, and was reminded of his own poor eating habits as the beast munched on the fruits, dribbling their juices down its chin.

“Here you are…what are you – oh my fuck!”

Rohan had been joined by his hunting partner, Ken, and in the frantic struggle that ensued which resulted in Rohan clamping a hand tightly over Ken’s mouth, it was a miracle that the animal wasn’t disturbed. Rohan stared at Ken and slowly, simultaneously lifted a finger to pursed lips whilst removing his hand from his partner’s mouth. Lifting his rifle scope to his right eye again, he watched as the animal finished off its berries and began foraging in a bush for more food. Rohan decided to chance a few words whilst the beast’s back was turned.

“Look at the way it moves…it’s smart, Ken. Smarter than dolphins, smarter than chimps…”

Ken was speechless. He gazed hungrily at the animal.

“Bigfoot…”

Rohan rounded on his partner, quite forgetting to keep his voice down.

“I told you not to say that!”

Ken snapped out of his reverent stupor at once.

“Say what?”

“The ‘B’ word!”

“But that’s what it is, man!”

“It’s what a jumped-up group of locals with a plaster cast called it! Ken, this is an entirely new animal, and when it is classified it won’t be called frickin’ ‘Bigfoot!’ “

“Alright, chill, I was just-”

A giant hand swatted Ken aside. Rohan watched as his partner was thrown at least ten metres away by the force of the blow, and gulped before looking up at the animal that now loomed over him, casting a long, threatening shadow. Scrambling for the rifle, which he’d lain down to argue with Ken, Rohan was nearly deafened by an ear-splitting roar which caused thousands of birds to take flight from the surrounding trees, and clapped his hands over his ears. Rohan’s guarding of his ears had allowed the creature its opportunity to seize him, though, and he howled in agony as he was tossed through the air like a ragdoll. As he pulled himself up to lean against a tree, clutching his broken, useless arm, he muttered, unsure who he was speaking to, as though he just wanted to say something before the end:

“But I don’t understand…you’re a herbivorous animal…why attack…?”

A high-pitched squeak caused Rohan to turn towards a bush behind him. Huddled together were three small, furry animals – the creature which now lumbered towards him, murder in its eyes, in miniature. They reminded him of teddy bears, or the Ewoks from Star Wars. As the animal whom he refused to call ‘Bigfoot’ loomed over him, engulfing him in shadow, Rohan allowed himself to sigh happily. Much like these animals, he’d never be found here – but at least he’d achieved what he’d set out to do. He’d found the new species.

“Gigantopithecus…”

The animal above Rohan roared again, pounded its chest and brought a fist crashing down…