Random Act of Monster: Chimera (for Belle)

Random Act of Monster is a series of personalised micro-stories written for my Patreon supporters at the $12 level, based on the fabulous mythical creature of their choice. This story is for Belle McQuattie. Thank you so much, Belle, for your generous support!

Everyone knows of Dr Echidna’s success stories. Lion and dragon and goat: now, that is a chimera to be proud of. It is perhaps best not to discuss the lesser known, more obscure experiments.

Such as that time she combined a kitten with a sparrow and a hippopotamus of reasonable size. It wasn’t just that this particular chimera was the ugliest creature ever designed, but oh. When it climbed the curtains, no one was safe.

Then there is the creature no one speaks of. The one that lives in the house with your neighbour, Belle (Dr Echidna’s favourite niece, according to rumour). That creature of hers is lion, oh yes. Its neck is leonine, and even without the trademark mane, the curve of its face is unmistakeable.

One third lion, but what of the other parts?

I wrote to Belle more than once, begging for the truth. How can I publish a Bestiary of Intelligent Facts About Chimera with such a damning gap in my knowledge? I must know of the final creature, the one that Dr Echidna shaped before her death.

The one that killed her, I believe.

I caught a glimpse of its body once, slithering along a corridor when I was supposed to be drinking port with Belle’s uncles. I swear, if it moved like anything, it was a crocodile.

One third lion, one third crocodile? The mystery is almost solved.

You are her dearest, most trusted companion of many years. Surely Belle would tell you the truth, if you asked her. What is the final piece of this puzzle? What unholy combination did Dr Echidna meld together, to create her greatest work?

The uncles would have told me, I am sure of it, if the chimera had not eaten them up a month or more ago, according to the Times.

As you have failed to reply to my recent letters, I worry that you have likewise served as supper to Belle’s creature of the slithering torso and leonine face.

Tell me, what manner of stomach does this chimera wield? Is it wolf or bear, or something in between?

Write, if you can. I should hate to include a new entry in my bestiary: of the final, one-third-unknown chimera, my only information is that it ate my grandmamma.