A Pinecone Beast

Your words about a monster... made my ears perk up. Slipping past the open lobby doors into the courtyard, the air smelled of damp earth and fallen needles. I paused... tilting my head to listen. All quiet. Under an overgrown juniper bush, I gathered dry twigs, sharp burs, and a prickly spiky pinecone to build a tiny, fierce creature on a flat slate stone. I gave it two dry thorn horns and watched its fierce shadow stretch in the afternoon sun. Crouched low behind a thick ring of moss, I guarded my camp bravely. I survived its scary glare without blinking.