D.C. LACHENY NOVELS
Forest Mysteries Part Two:
Does Colossal Paw Exist?
By Liam Summer- Associated Reporter for the Tribal Flair
Picture it... the marshmallows are roasting on a campfire, someone is holding the flashlight under their chin, and the story begins... Colossal Paw.
Now I know what you’re probably thinking... "Here we go again with the old midnight campfire stories..." but this large feline has been the talk of many tribesmen for many years since the Great Meteor Crash. A camera-elusive, four-legged furry beast that roams the forest regions of Clamoria. To some, he's a menace; to others, he's a god… if you believe he exists.
An artist illustration of Colossal Paw
What do you think? Is Colossal real or fake?
The Believers
"I'm telling you, man... he's reeaal!"
Local Catnip Merchant.
The Skeptics
"The bottom line is, he doesn't exist." Howard Tattersall, Ph.D.
Proof Required Magazine.
The Scientists
"Most of the scientific community is not yet on board."
Josephina Berry
The Believers
Tales of the mythical massive cat lurk in the oral traditions of most shamans within the seven tribes, though his name may change depending on the region. Shamans believe Terraflippers obey his commands. Prayers and ceremonies are offered for the return of the forest.
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The followers from the seven tribes that have remained undeterred by skeptics call themselves Paw-Hearts and worship the large feline throughout the year.
During the spring, they lay large catnip balls in baskets and have them flow down the River Ahn. In the summer, the baskets contain large frozen sticks of catnip, and in the autumn, the baskets are filled with dried fish flake cakes. (No rituals occur in the winter due to the harsh climate.)
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Colossal Paw advocates theorize that he was exposed to chemicals that caused the normal-sized kitten to grow to skyscraper heights.
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The adult male is said to be at least 197 feet (60 meters) tall, weight unknown, and has paws that can create deep paw-shaped lakes. The creature is described as aloof and nocturnal, and his diet consists primarily of large fish or fowl and forest berries for his lustrous, shiny coat of fur.
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A few years after The Great Meteor Crash, a journalist lost in the woods claimed to have spotted a 60-meter-sized cat. He wrote about his harrowing tale in The Tribal Flare. Since then, no one else has spotted the giant kitty.
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Leon Pinsky has been searching for Colossal Paw for years. In the woods of northern Clamoria, he claimed he finally came eye to eye with the elusive feline. "I wasn't looking for the creature. Our plane had crashed, and I was separated from the other passengers. I was disoriented from the accident but went back toward the plane, seeking any other survivors. Sadly, I returned to find a flaming chunk of metal burning the tree it leaned on. It was hard to see in the dark, but past the smoke and flames, I could make out the silhouette of the plane's captain burning in the cockpit."
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"I was alone, must have been around 3 a.m.,” Leon recalled. "The moons were angry that night and hid behind red and white clouds. I felt sick to my stomach, and there was no point in searching for a medical kit since everything burned to ash. I was strangely hypnotized by the sound of clicking in the wind. My feet took over before my brain had even decided whether or not to follow that sound, and the next thing I knew, I was standing right below him. The amazing Colossal Paw! He stood tall and stared at me like I was a tiny bug that wasn't worth his time. Don't ask me how I know that, but I could oddly sense a vibe from him. Like he saw me, but he didn't care. He yawned, licked his paw, and disappeared when I blinked."
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Leon, who lived in Sarvisik, moved to Clamoria to become a Colossal Paw seeker. He continues to work as a journalist but does so independently, running his own newspaper with the Pinsky Media Group. "The mainstream media chooses to ignore what is staring them in the face, but someday they will see the truth in the woods."
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In his spare time, he leads the Colossal Paw Forest Researchers Group, a network of thousands of believers who claim to have seen the giant cat's paw mark. The non-profit group gladly accepts donations to pay for forensic evidence to be analyzed. "The proof will be in the results."
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Stories about Colossal Paw date back to the Great Meteor Crash. These are the quotes and short stories from the seven tribes shared with me for this piece.
To the Paw-Hearts: He is known as the protector of the forest.
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"Our offerings have worked, and our lush forest is returning one seedling at a time."
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He is worshipped at Temples.
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"He is wise like no other... and I know he will grant our prayers to rebuild the Forest of Red from the fires of war," said Shaman Kay from the Sterling Paw Temple. "I grow catnip for him, and I know that one day... the scorched soil will grow flowers again."
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Environmental groups also champion the large cat for protecting the forests from poachers.
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"Any friend of the forest is a friend of ours," a Leaf the Forest Alone spokesperson said. "We acknowledge the power a titan-sized cat has against poachers, and we will support him in any way we can to keep our lands safe in the future."
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The Benny Beige Construction Company refused to work on any other forest projects after they found bulldozers and cranes destroyed under a giant paw print.
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"We are in a current lawsuit against our insurance company that refuses to pay out, claiming a titan-sized cat attacking our equipment is as probable as a leprechaun handing out lottery tickets on a street corner. However, the damage to our expensive equipment is extensive and very much real."
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An evening construction worker claimed to hear loud hissing at night.
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"I was on a smoke break during the midnight watch of our construction equipment. The skies above turned almost pitch black; I looked up, thinking a storm was brewing, when suddenly I saw this ginormous paw coming down. I ran away, barely escaping with my life, but I now wished I had been squashed along with the equipment since the higher-ups came down pretty hard on me. Oh! Wait... please scratch the last part from this quote." The anonymous employee pulled on his shirt collar.
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Felicity Saxton Investigates Hazardous Workplaces.
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A local catnip merchant claims to have seen him.
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"I'm telling you, man... he's reeaal! Who cares that he's really tall, man?! If it looks like a cat, meows like a cat, annd loves catnip like a cat... then it's a cat!"
The Skeptics
Many people throughout the seven tribes have claimed to have seen the massive kitty, but there is no evidence of his fuzzy existence. Sketches have been created, but people have yet to get a clear photograph of Colossal Paw.
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Heaps of jokesters have posted photos claiming proof, but skeptic specialists revealed that the majority that exists are heavily photoshopped.
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Most researchers still believe Colossal Paw is little more than gossip or tabloid fodder. They wonder why no Colossal Paw has ever been captured, dead or alive.
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"The bottom line is, he doesn't exist," said Howard Tattersall, Ph.D., who writes for Proof Required Magazine and has followed the Colossal Paw debate for 20 years. "No carcasses or bones have ever been found."
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Colossal Paw buffs note that it's rare to find a carcass of a Razorwolf in the wild. While that's factual, Razorwolves have been photographed and documented.
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Hairball samples recovered from alleged Colossal Paw encounters came from wolves or silver bears.
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When asked about Mr. Pinsky's claim, his response was swift. "He has newspapers to sell, doesn't he?"
Meanwhile, many of the sightings and pawprints have proved to be hoaxes.
After Colossal Paw tracker and Shaman Mune Willikers died in his Clamoria temple last year, his daughter finally confessed that her dad had created the modern myth of Colossal Paw when he used a pair of bamboo carved paws to create a track of giant paw prints. "My father was a huge animal lover, particularly of cats, and after the Great Meteor Crash, so many people lost hope. He wanted to lift spirits, so he created the legend of the Great Forest Protector that will one day replenish the destroyed land." (Despite coming clean about her father, believers still pray to Colossal Paw to this day.)
Howard Tattersall said he's not surprised by the flood of Colossal Paw sightings.
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"It's the same kind of eyewitness reports we see for the Legendary Sea Beasts, Space Aliens, Ghosts, you name it," he said. "The monster thing is a universal product of our minds. We hear such stories from all the seven tribes."
What does science say?
A few academics believe the journalist could be correct, though most of the scientific community is not yet on board.
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Renowned feline researcher and professor of anatomy and anthropology at Sarvisik University Josephina Berry made headlines by surprising a radio interviewer when she said she was sure that Colossal Paw is as real as you and me.
I went to find this researcher and met her while she was knee-deep in some animal leavings. She launched into an impromptu lecture before I could introduce myself.
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"The paw-hearts claim to have received these gifts in return for their seasonal offerings, and I have studied their organic fertilizers over the past 16 years." She removed her gloves and changed out of her chest waders with boots.
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I followed her to her campsite, where she showed me charts on her writing board.
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"The fertilizer's odor and the texture is completely different from anything I've ever seen," she said. "It's not as bad smelling as Joongi Island fertilizer, but it's no bed of roses, that's for sure. The texture of the droppings is similar to that of large felines; however, the size doesn't correspond with any known large cat. Based on the scientific evidence I have obtained and processed, I'm certain there is a creature out there that has yet to be identified. I know my colleagues have many doubts, but it has become my life's work as a scientist to find Colossal Paw."
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Silver Dove scholars and Grey Moose academics agree that to solve this mystery, a comprehensive scientific study with many scientists would be necessary to discover whether or not the titan-sized cat truly exists. "We need additional studies proposing evidence of the creature’s existence, but we only know of one researcher with limited studies. Funding has been a major problem since most people think he's as real as a ghost."