(Mitch's POV)
I felt the warm trickle of rain slide across my face.
Crap, I thought, beginning to jog as to avoid getting soaked.
I lived in a small house which had 2 bedrooms. Mine was small and only had a set of draws and a bed but my window looked out upon the Forrest where I spent most of my time. My mom and dad shared the bigger room. Downstairs there was a basic kitchen, a dining room and a sitting room.
We didn't have a lot of money but that didn't matter, we were a close family and when we had no food we would find something to occupy ourselves with. That's why I started hunting.
My father lost his job and slowly, we had begun to starve to death, my mother had never looked so thin. I made my own bow out of discarded sticks and string, it was not the most effective weapon but there was nothing else I could do. I soon found that I had a talent for archery, on my first expedition I (almost accidentally) shot a squirrel in his eye.
I couldn't tell my parents what I was doing or they would stop me, tell me that they would find money some other way. I knew it was pointless to even consider it. So, secretly I wandered off into the woods with my pathetic excuse of a bow and tracked and killed several animals. With a bag filled to the limit with rabbits, I would find the butcher and sell whatever I could, so i could then buy bread, milk and cheese for my family.
I told them I had found a job, they did not question it. I had food.
It would have been easier to bring home the dead beasts to cook and eat directly but then I would have to explain how I got them. And how I had lied.
On this particular day I stumbled across a deer, of all things. My grin was larger than life. I have only ever seen two deers in my whole life and now one was standing clueless to the fact I had an arrow pointed at its head. With a quick movement it was all over.
It was getting dark so I decided to leave the animal where it was and come back when everyone was asleep. Besides the fact my parents would be concerned about me being out this late, the deer was enormous and would probably need a lot of work to get it all the way to the butchers shop down town.
I remember the last time I shot a deer.
It was a fond memory.....
I was 12. The sun was barely peeking over the horizon. It was early and the world was still dreaming. It was a particularly empty season. Empty in the sense that no animals had found their was into my sights for the past to weeks and the money was running out.
Exhausted from dehydration, I lay against the trunk of a tree and took a sip from my water canistar. I look up and see almost as if by magic, a deer. I swear to god it was glowing. Fumbling and gabbing at the bow, scared I would loose my chance, I dragged the arrow back and sent it spiralling through the air. For a second I thought it missed but by sure chance it was knocked dead.
Propelled by new found energy, I ran up to the once living creature and smiled manically. Who knew killing could provide so much joy at a time of need.
It was a difficult task dragging this weight all the way to the butchers. I almost passed out on the journey. When I got to the front door I can't even Imagine what I looked like. A young boy, filthy from being in the woods for hours, skinny and pale with shadows under his eyes but with a smile that would reach the corners of the earth and fill the hearts of millions.
The shock on his face was priceless.
He looked at me as if I had carried a elephant home. I must have seemed so helpless and tiny to him. But he paid my all the same, in fact he gave me a substantial amount more than i got for those stupid rabbits. I stood there as he placed the coins in my hands. My mouth dropped open. There was enough for 3 loafs of bread, 2 rolls of cheese and 4 milk cartons which could keep us going for a little over a month maybe more if we're careful.
"Thank you, t-thank you so much!" I announced as he closed the door.
Still in shock I barely felt the rumble in my stomach. I took the money across the road the the store and bought a loaf of bread son cheese and milk, pocketing the rest of the money to be saved for next week. As I was leaving, I saw something which caught my eye. A red and black chequered hoody. It was perfect. I gave myself a million excuses to buy it.
It's almost winter, you're going to get cold.
You'll look better, less like a drowned dog.
Just get it, you know you want it.
It was so cheep that a breath caught in my throat as I approached the register. Barely wasting a weeks worth of money, I bought the coat.
I sprinted home in excitement. When I presented my parents with the money and the food, wearing the red chequered hoody, they seemed as shocked as I was. My face was glowing with pride as my mother smiled and my father patted me on the back.
"Hey, where did you get the hoody?" My Mother inquired.
I spun her some story about a homeless man who game it to me, but the coat was brand new and of course they did not believe me. Pulling up my hood over my face, my dad laughed "We don't care where you got it, as long as you didn't steal it." I assured them I didn't and from then on I never left the house without it.
When I heard the low breathing and slight snores of my parents, I jumped out of bed. Swinging my jacket over my shoulders, I left in the dead of night to collect my prize. I pulled away a sheet of leaves and checked my bow was still there, my bow making skills had improved vastly over the years and I now owned a fairly decent collection of equipment. Though I still preferred to use my original bow.
I re-organized the positioning of the leaves to protect it's hiding place. I don't want anyone to find them.
The deer was exactly where I left it, undisturbed. Now that I was stronger and far better off than I was 7 years ago, it took less than 2 hours to get the lump of meet to the butchers. it was early but he was awake. This time when he inspected what I had brought, instead of shock i recognized a look of respect on his face as he handed me an amount similar to what he game me for the first one if not, he gave me more. "buy something nice for your mother, wont you?" He smiled. I nodded knowing that I would.
It was too soon to buy anything so I made my way past the trees and through the forest until I could see our quaint house, sitting on the edge of town.
But as I approached it, something stirred inside of me. I don't know if it was physical or spiritual but i felt as though something was tugging at me from the trees. screaming at me to turn around. I tried to take a step forward but my foot was pushed back by an invisible force. Anyone watching would see a boy standing in a field with trees behind him and a house facing him. To me it felt like i was being pushed with so much strength that I fell backwards.
I thought for a second I saw something as I turned around. I have looked at those trees everyday of my life and something had changed. I tried getting closer to see what it might be but like before i was pushed back as if they didn't want me to know. Satisfied with my curiosity they let me turn to home. I ran!
Not bothering to be silent, I sprinted up to me room and to the window, desperately searching for what was out there. When I saw it my heart skipped a beat. I say on my bed. Someone was out there and they were watching me. This wasn't just anyone thought, they knew black magic and they wanted me to know That they were there and I was powerless.
When I looked outside, I saw several broken homemade bows, swinging from various branches, illuminated by the slowly rising sun.
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Just a warning
this is going to be very magic based ;)
