Hitty Sassy

If any of you reading this have not already read Part 1, PLEASE scroll down to Part 1 before you look at the photos in Part 2 and ruin the surprise!

First, Sassy wants to explain the word CRYPTID.

Wikipedia tells us that Cryptid is a term used to refer to a creature whose existence has been suggested, but not scientifically confirmed, including purported unknown biological organisms and extinct species claimed to be living today, i.e. the Loch Ness Monster, Bigfoot, Yeti, Coelacanth.

Cryptozoology is the study of and search for animals found in fossil records which are considered extinct; and animals for which anecdotal evidence exists in the form of myths, legends or undocumented sightings.

Let’s resume the story!

Sassy curiously asked the Yawla Redef residents what was in the carefully wrapped package, but they only repeated that she was not to open it until she returned to the laboratory.

With a sigh, she agreed to their terms.  She asked many more questions that DID have answers, finished writing down all the pertinent information that she knew the scientists would want, picked up the bag with the hairs and the wrapped package, and headed for home.  She wondered why it had been so important to the residents of Yawla Redef that they requested a Cryptid Hunter to personally pick up the photograph they had taken.  Usually people sent their evidence in to a lab and had it processed before the Hunters even found out about it.

As soon as she got home, she headed for the science lab.  She knew that M.S. Dort had been certified by C.H.I. to analyze cryptid evidence.

Both Sassy and M.S. Dort were surprised when they unwrapped it.

The carefully opened package contained a nearly complete Sapphire Leopard skin!!!  So this was the reason the residents of Yawla Redef had requested a personal visit from a Cryptid Hunter!  It was too important to risk shipping it to C.H.I. offices via ordinary routes.  This was BIG!!

A note from the residents told that they had found it in the forest, very near the spot where Sassy found the three blue hairs.  It had died of old age!  They thought it could be important to Cryptid Hunters, so they had sent an urgent message to the C.H.I. Hotline.

Sassy had scored her first coup for the Cryptid  Hotline.  And M.S. Dort was the lucky scientist who would first study this ultra-rare find.  There would be scientific papers to write!  And lectures to deliver!  They would be famous!!

It wasn’t enough for Sassy to have made a major scientific find and have her name prominently posted in all C.H.I. offices and be lauded in the press.  No.

She ordered some fabric made to resemble the pelt and had her seamstress make a dress from it.  She could just picture herself doing a lecture tour wearing her blue and black dress.  She would stand proudly at the podium and deliver a speech about the way she had saved the hairs and skin for science!

******THE END******

P.S.  Many of you guessed correctly that TC Vollum carved Hitty Sassy!!

The Hotline’s Red Phone was flashing insistently as the girl entered the office of CRYPTID HUNTERS INTERNATIONAL.  Their motto was “Did you see it?  Did you hear it?  We Investigate it!”

Could this be her first case?

CRYPTID HOTLINE

ALERT!!  ALERT!!  ALERT!!

Cryptid reported in Yawla Redef

Photo taken

Evidence collected

Request Cryptid Hunter ASAP

All available Hunters please acknowledge

It was a report from the isolated area known as Yawla Redef.  This is what she had been waiting and hoping for.  The residents reported sighting a Sapphire Leopard!  And someone had a photo!!  But they wouldn’t take the chance of mailing the photo.  They wanted a Cryptid Hunter to visit them in person and pick up the image.  Could someone come RIGHT AWAY?

Crypto Hitty Idaho Jones was known as Sassy.  That was short for Sasquatch, “a mysterious ape-like creature said to inhabit remote forests, mainly in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States and the Canadian province of British Columbia.”  Sasquatch, also known as Bigfoot, had been her first introduction to the cryptid world during her training.

Sassy felt she was born as a cryptid hunter.  Her carver infused her with a love for the mysterious, and as soon as her lips were finished, she began a conversation with her carver and the carver’s children.  Oh, the tales she was told!  Oh, the mysterious creatures she heard about from them.  She was only a few days old when she flew across a vast ocean to begin her training.

And now the Sapphire Leopard could be her first investigation as a licensed Cryptid Hunter!

She rushed to the office computer and replied to the Alert.  Would she be the first to respond? She held her breath until she learned that she had been approved to travel to Yawla Redef.  HOORAY!!

When Sassy arrived in Yawla Redef, she immediately went to the location given in the Hotline Report.  The residents were more than willing to give her the photograph they had taken, and she excitedly took it in her hands.

What?? This was NOT what she expected to see.  Here’s the photo:

What a letdown.  The blue skin of the Sapphire Leopard they said they had found was barely visible in the photo, and it was very blurry and out-of-focus.  Sassy’s spirits drooped.

But then she remembered her training, and asked if they would take her to the place where the photo was taken.  “Sure,” the said.  “It’s not too far from here.  Follow us.”

It was very wet in the rain forest.  Even the tree trunks were wet from the near-steady rain in the area.  The forest floor was soft and squishy with moss.

The trail was poorly marked.  It went up hills and it went down hills.  Sassy persevered, knowing that other Cryptid Hunters were depending on her to take home as much evidence as she could.  The Sapphire Leopard was new to science, was unverified, and any small proof (that blurry photo was not valid in her opinion) would be welcomed.

At last they reached the part of the forest where the residents had found what they said was further evidence of a passing Sapphire Leopard.  They pointed out the exact tree branch where they had found their evidence.

“Aha!”  Sassy found three blue hairs, the only trace that was left.

‘Well, this is better than nothing, and it’s a whole lot better than that blurry photo,’ she thought to herself.  To the residents she said “Thank you very much.  I’ll pick these up with tweezers, put them in a sterile bag and take them home to the scientists.  The hairs could provide very valuable DNA evidence.”

They they all trekked back to the village.

Sassy was extremely disappointed that her very first case was turning out to be nothing more than a wild goose chase.  The residents noticed her mood, and offered her a cup of hot tea.  While she was thus occupied, they excitedly sent a small boy to retrieve a wrapped package from its hiding place.

“Please miss, take this package back to the scientists.  But DO NOT OPEN IT UNTIL IT IS IN THEIR LABORATORY!”

End of Part 1———-Can you guess who carved Hitty Sassy??