A/N—Sorry guys, this chapter is slightly short. And not too exciting, but it kind of introduces the story. Hope you enjoy :)
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The sun shone through the lush leaves of the trees, as its sweet warmth brought a tingling to my skin. As I look around, I feel overwhelmed with the urge of relaxation as I let my tense muscles soften. My mind has been on alert for the last few hours as I have been hoping to catch a glimpse at an animal. I lay down in the crotch of two tree limbs and rest my bow on my chest, as I let the relaxation fill me, until my heavy eyes close, and I drift off into the beauty of my dreams.
But those dreams have to wait for another time.
A rustling within the forest to my left makes my body rigid with the threat of something unknown lurking about. I lift my bow off my chest and nock an arrow onto the string. The noise is getting closer.
Closer.
Closer.
Until it is close enough that I can hear the breath of the culprit. It is a wild hog. I draw my bow, anchoring it behind my ear, and take aim. I breath, loosening the anxiety of taking a life, and allow my mind to go empty as I put my full concentration onto this one shot. My hand relaxes as the string roles off my fingers and my arrow flies ever so gracefully into the thick air.
Then the air becomes alive with noise as the Hog squeals as it is starts running out of instinct, but it doesn’t know where to run. I nock another arrow and take a shot. The air suddenly goes silent as the pig drops to the ground with a heavy thud.
A mixture of emotions run from my head all the way down to the ends of my toes: Happiness, regret, but most importantly, the feeling of accomplishment. This hog is big enough that It will be able to feed my friend Masons family for the next week.
Mason is one of my best friends. We have been friends since grade two and from then on we have just been becoming better friends. But his dad died recently, and his mom didn’t work, so they weren’t able to pay for food to feed their family. Getting them meat was the least I could do for them, but they insisted that it was all I could do.
I jump from my perch in the tree and land on the ground. A painful shock runs up my legs and I wince at the impact. I walk over to my kill as I am still in awe of how big this hog is. It is the biggest one I have taken down to date.
Suddenly I have to turn around because I hear yet another sound echoing through the trees in my general direction. I hide behind a bush, not expecting at all what will fly out of the thickets of the forest.
The sound is getting closer.
Closer now. The noise of the leaves and twigs and branches are cracking and snapping under its feet. A figure burst through the green curtains of leaves and stops. This figure is another animal, and based on the long neck and equally long legs, it’s a deer. I crouch down lower, so that it won’t see me put another arrow onto my bowstring. It’s head turns into my direction because I accidentally hit a leave, and it freezes. We stare at each other for a few seconds, and then it turns its head away and starts wandering in the hogs direction. I instinctively draw my bow, and release the shot. I hit it right through the heart--no pain at all for the poor thing.
I suddenly feel anguish bolt through me because since I was the one that killed that hog and the deer. That I am responsible for two deaths of innocent animals. I stand up, and walk out towards the hog and the deer. They both lay down in a position like they are sleeping. I kneel down before the deer. It has a beautiful brown fur coat, and even more majestic antlers. The hog on the other hand, may be big, but it is appalling in all other aspects. It’s black fur is grey with dust and dirt, its hooves are cracked and muddy, and the snout is raunchy with its small tusks protruding from it.
I stand up, and look at the dead bodies in front of me. This will be a very long walk back to Puramite. I have to walk from the forest, to the east to drop off the animals at Mason’s house. But my house is on the west side, so I have to walk all the way across town to my house.
I grab the pig and throw it over my shoulder, then the deer, and I saunter through the woods back home. I force my legs to start moving in the town’s general direction. But it gets harder as the bitter cold starts to seep into every inch of my clothing and then eventually into my skin.
“Why didn’t I bring a jacket?” I asked myself, and chuckling slightly because I realized that I was just talking to myself. Goes to show just how much of a loner I am.
Told ya it was short! Please enjoy the rest :)
