The Ghost of the Forest- character revsion

I have revised the profile of my character after researching the behaviour and traits of the black panther as Hedjuk described.



“The ghost of the forest”

Park attendant Brian Hones-Smith stays silent as he watches the Black Panther pounce on its prey. The bird falls limp and is gripped by the jaw of the predator. The animal retreats back into its hiding place and waits. Brian wonders onwards wondering how much longer the panther will wait before it surfaces again, sometimes days go by without the panther moving out of the darkness. Brian walks alone. Brian spends little time with others, the park and the animals are all he needs. A life of solitude. The lines on his forehead speak of his 64 years on this earth. He has walked alone for many years now; His wife and the mother of his now grown children was the prey to a predator we know as cancer.

Animals intrigue him, and the natural environment is his primary interest. While the park has always been his life, it has not always been his career. Brian studied economics in hopes of making his parents proud and to be able to someday support a family. Though happiness did not follow. To put on a shirt and tie and talk of values and rates, to Brian, was not living. One day, when he visited his favourite place as a child, the national park, he met the woman who he one day made his wife and raised two children with. He took it as a sign the park was where he belongs. He left the suit and ties behind and joined the national wildlife park as a park attendant. His role as park attendant was originally an administrator’s role, though nothing could keep Brian inside for long. A curiosity of the animals and in particular the Black Panther consumed him. To be confined to an office only brings back unwanted memories of a long summer’s afternoon locked in the cupboard by his trickster older brother. Brian loves the outdoors, the dirt and dust underfoot and the call of birds and other animals in the distance. To read is his escape. He lets his mind wonder from reality and jump into the fictional realms of Charles Brockden Brown.

The sun begins to set and brings the end to another day, Brian retreats back to his hiding place and waits.