Monster in the Basement

You know when you get that feeling like there's someone/something watching you? Well I always thought I knew what that felt like, until the time came when I actually found out what it feels like...
I was in the jungles of northern Argentina set out to enjoy the sights of some kick-ass water falls shared between the jungles of northern Argentina, and southern Brazil.
A great day was had, and as it wound down, and the sun started to set, I headed back to the pick-up point. I needed to follow a set of train tracks that ran through the jungle, then turn left off the tracks, onto a path that would take me to the pick-up.
As soon as I walked left, off the tracks, something strange happened... The whole look and feel of the jungle changed... During the day the jungle was crawling with activity, alive, and randomly noisy, like a kindergarton class full of kids! But when I turned left onto this path I was struck with a feeling of intentional stillness... Something was up.... I brushed it off as silly paranoia, and continued walking. Shortly after I thought I heard the noise of foot steps off into the bush... So I stopped, and listened... But as soon as I stopped moving the noise stopped. My heart's pase spead up a bit. "Hm," I thought... "That's weird?" So I kept moving, and sure enough, I heard it again, "crunch, crunch." Almost in rythm with my footsteps. This time I knew for sure that I heard it, stopped again, and began searching in the direction of the noise to try and see the source. But, I couldn't see anything... Fuck, I'm in the jungle wearing flip-flops(bad decision from the get-go), it's dark, and I'm alone... Heart started to beat even faster, and my body was telling me to get the fuck off this narrow-ass path. But, curiosity was also telling me to move forward, and find out what was making that noise. So I kept on walking, heart beating through my chest, and sure enough I heard the noise again, "crunch, crunch." This time I was ready for it, and my gaze was set in the direction where I thought it was coming from... I stopped walking a peered into the jungle... Then, there it was. A 45 degree angle off the path, about 20 metres ahead of me. A black puma, head still, SLOWLY moving through the jungle towards the path. The presence of it, and my entire lack of experience of the situation awoke my being like a slap in the face followed by a bucket of cold water!! "Holy shit!!" Once it was confirmed that I was in fact seeing what I thought I was, and then realized that I wasn't in a fucking zoo, I slowly started walking backward for a few steps, then turned, and ran the hell outa there! You know when you were a little kid coming up the stairs from the basement, and you run up the stairs as fast as you can so the monsters don't get you? Well, that's what it felt like, but with a real monster! Longest run of my life. I finally reached the train tracks, only to hear heavy movement through the bushes behind me...I turned, ready to fuck that cat up, but luckily... for it, it ran the other way. That was the first time I saw a big cat in the wild!
R.D.