by Kristin Lennox

No one believed it existed.

After three seasons of “Cryptid Quest,” we could stretch strange noises and unexplained heat signatures into hour-long episodes; no actual creature required.

But that stench—not even my producer could have faked it. Then the howl that echoed through the Amazonian canopy…

The upside? I have Pulitzer-prize-winning footage, proof of the mythical Mapinguari: I kept filming as the one-eyed beast massacred the camp, disembowelling the crew with its sloth-like claws.

True, I’m bleeding out, but the camera’s still running—the creature just gave the lens a curious lick with the gaping mouth in its belly…

Kristin Lennox