Monster - A. Lee Martinez [46]
Jeanine stifled a shriek. Greta kept her cool, and Mary glared at the rogue animal atop the roof while arranging for a cab ride.
Mary said, “That’s right. Twelfth and Main. Twenty minutes? Make it ten and I’ll throw in an extra twenty bucks.”
The lion shifted its weight, causing the roof to buckle in the back. Jeanine grabbed at her door handle. She was in such a panic, she couldn’t quite figure out how to open it.
“Don’t go out there,” said Greta.
Jeanine finally threw open her door. Greta grabbed at Jeanine but couldn’t stop her from running. She dashed away without glancing back in her mad scrambling flight. Greta was certain the predator, by virtue of its instincts, would pounce on Jeanine and begin devouring her. At least it would give Greta a chance to get away. She felt a little bad for thinking that, but she was just being practical.
Jeanine did not get eaten alive. She never once looked back, just kept running as far and as fast as she could. The lion remained on the roof.
Greta was relieved and disappointed at the same time. Relieved that Jeanine had not been devoured. Frustrated that there was still a lion on her car and she wasn’t sure what to do about it.
“Where the hell is Animal Control?” she said.
“Where the hell is my cab?” said Mary.
They sat quietly for a few minutes more before the lion finally made the decision for them.
Roaring, the beast raked its claws across the roof, shredding it even further. Half of a giant paw poked its way into the car. With another stomp, it shattered the windshield. That was enough to spur the passengers into exiting.
They each flung open their door and ran for it. Mary bolted in one direction, Greta another. She made it only a few steps before tripping and falling. The asphalt scraped the palms of her hands as she tried to catch herself. She barely felt the pain and was on her feet. Something slammed into her from behind and knocked her to the ground again. A shadow fell across her. Greta spun around, her arms flailing wildly.
“No!” she shouted defiantly, drawing on her basic self-defense lessons at the gym. Be strong, be intimidating. Hit the attacker in the vulnerable points. Run like hell. It was basic strategy but seemed as practical to use against a lion as a mugger.
But it wasn’t a lion. It looked mostly like a lion, but it had a giant pair of feathery wings. Its face was that of a human woman, though about twice the size of Greta’s. Her passing knowledge of mythology allowed her to recognize a sphinx when she saw one.
“No!” she shouted again, readying herself to jam her fingers into the sphinx’s eyes as it ripped her apart. She might not accomplish much, but at least she’d go down fighting.
The sphinx sat. It smiled and licked its paw with a giant blue tongue.
Greta took a cautious step backwards.
The sphinx spread its wings and roared. It lowered its head and rose on its haunches as if to spring. The impulse to run hit Greta, but she’d never make it. Instead she stopped moving, and this seemed to satisfy the sphinx, who reclined and returned to licking its paw.
“Where does an eight-hundred-pound gorilla sit?” asked the creature.
“What?” replied Greta.
The sphinx glowered as a low rumble of disapproval rolled from the back of its throat. It flew like a shot to Greta’s car and with a casual swipe of its paws smashed a headlight and gouged deep slashes in the driver-side door.
Greta made a break for it. She didn’t get far. The sphinx was on her in a moment, knocking her to the ground again. The creature seized Greta’s leg in its mouth and dragged her with relative delicacy back to the car.
“What is it that demands an answer but never asks a question?” asked the sphinx.
Greta bit her lip as the sphinx raised an eyebrow and tapped its claws patiently.
“What is it that demands an answer but never asks a question?” asked the sphinx again, this time sounding a touch impatient.
“Damn,” said Greta. “I don’t know.”
She wasn’t surprised to find the sphinx displeased with the answer. Neither was she terribly shocked