Island creature quickie

He heard a guttural grunt from the darkness, not twenty feet to his right. The small, bright beam of light cut through the midnight forest, but illuminated nothing. Still, he could be fairly certain he was not alone on the island. The grunting noise, like a coarse huff of air, had been following him for the last 30 minutes. He didn't want to imagine what it could be. There was almost no noise beyond the infernal buzzing of the mosquitoes and the dull plodding of his steps on the soft earth. The dull roar of the high water was there always in the background, but all that could be heard of civiiization was the distant echo of a train passing through Ecklesville ten miles south. The faint whine of the bloodsucking swarm turned to a roar suddenly as one of the pests made a mad dive for his ear canal. The flashlight swung wildly in his hand, and the shadows of the trees danced crazily. The sudden effect of movement all around made him freeze in place, and he wondered how foolish he looked. He felt foolish enough, after all, why would there be anyone out here? The island was cut off, miles from civilization, no game to hunt, not buildings to shelter in. Maybe someone came out here and camp, he thought, though he had circled the entire island before sundown and saw no other boats before disembarking. Still, here he was, not sure of which way he needed to go, alone on an island in the mighty Mississippi with some kind of large animal, armed with nothing but his flashlight and the least rotted stick he could find, actually a sapling that had been crushed by a fallen behemoth. He stood still, gripping his makeshift club tightly, and turned off the light again. Using the stars would be impossible, the foliage here was nearly impenetrable. It would be another month before the leaves would change and fall away, letting starlight through to the forest floor. He had left a lantern on at his "base camp" along a small inlet where he had anchored his john boat. If he could manage to get close enough, he could see the light and he'd be home free. Still nothing broke the wall of black silence. He pushed the thoughts of the creature to the back of his mind after a quick glance around and marched forward, determined to find the edge of the island and follow it back. It was a rather large island, nearly indistinguishable from the mainland by boat, and it might take all night to walk the edge, but it was the only sure thing he had to go on.

The soft sound of water grew as he neared the river's edge, and he could see some light. Though the moon wouldn't rise until just before dawn, the starlight was mana for his starving eyes. Before he could reach the edge, he heard an enormous splash from just over the ridge of the steep bank. He forced himself to put one foot forward, then the other, and slowly drew closer to the edge. The fog betrayed his terror, as the light from his flashlight quivered on the ground before him. At the edge, there was only dark water, ripples still riding the current away from where he now stood. He couldn't help himself but to lean over the edge and shine his light down at the midnight water. He the light of his own reflection dancing below, the red of his jacket gleaming like blood in the river. A pale thing rose suddenly from the depths, charging up and propelling itself out of the water with an explosive spray. Black, dead eyes glinted in the light, unseeing and uncaring. The fish splashed back into the river, and his heart returned to his chest. He felt the thing step behind him more than he heard it. There was one moment when he could have turned around to see what the thing was. He knew it in that moment, and chose not to see. The thing leapt upon him, its heavy body pushing him out over the water, his frenzied reflection rushing to meet him. The last thing he felt before being encompassed by the cool muddy water was the small pop as teeth broke through the skin of his neck.