With four days left in this year's Travel Highlights competition, it is a pleasure to feature this second entry from Malcolm Welshman.
A CALL OF NATURE
My call of Nature came one moonlit night, the rocky ridges of southern Sudan awash with silver. I slipped out of our tent, careful not to wake my girlfriend and clambered up the slope.
My relief was short-lived when each side of me deep-throated snarls erupted. I hurtled back down to the tent. The snuffles followed.
I nudged Maxeen. ‘Listen,’ I hissed, rasping purrs just inches beyond the canvas. ‘Leopards.’
She half-woke. ‘Frogs,’ she murmured drowsily and fell asleep again.
When we emerged the next morning, large pug marks encircled the tent.
‘Bloody large frogs,’ was all I could say.
My call of Nature came one moonlit night, the rocky ridges of southern Sudan awash with silver. I slipped out of our tent, careful not to wake my girlfriend and clambered up the slope.
My relief was short-lived when each side of me deep-throated snarls erupted. I hurtled back down to the tent. The snuffles followed.
I nudged Maxeen. ‘Listen,’ I hissed, rasping purrs just inches beyond the canvas. ‘Leopards.’
She half-woke. ‘Frogs,’ she murmured drowsily and fell asleep again.
When we emerged the next morning, large pug marks encircled the tent.
‘Bloody large frogs,’ was all I could say.
Malcolm Welshman is a retired vet and author. He was the My Weekly vet for 15 years and has written many features for magazines such as She, The Lady, The People’s Friend, Cat World, Yours, and newspapers such as The Sunday Times and the Daily Mail. He is the author of three pet novels, the first of which, Pets in a Pickle, reached number two on Kindle’s bestseller list. His third novel, Pets Aplenty, was a finalist for The People’s Book Prize 2015. A memoir, An Armful of Animals, was published in September 2018; and through a collection of twenty stories tells how animals have shaped his life as a vet. Malcolm is also an international speaker on cruise ships, a regular BBC Radio Somerset panellist, and a bi-monthly contributor to a local community radio, Keep 106 in Dorset.
Website: http://www.malcolmwelshman.co.uk
Website: http://www.malcolmwelshman.co.uk
