Trigger Warnings: Violence against animals.
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You have been hungry for most of the winter. There hasn’t been much to eat for a while. But now, you feel the weather warming up. All sorts of critters will start to emerge from their long slumber. Soon you will have plenty to eat. During winter it has been slim pickings. Only the few birds that didn’t leave for winter and fish when the lakes weren’t frozen. You yearn to tear into a succulent rabbit. Yearn for the sweet meat of a fox. They always see you coming during winter. Everything is too clear then. But in the spring or during summer, nothing ever sees you. Before it’s too late. Before you’ve torn into the soft meat. Tasted the metallic iron of its blood. You really can’t wait for the trees to get their leaves back. Provide you with the perfect cover. You’ve missed the hunt. The silent approach. The surprised whine, screech, scream of your prey.
You pause in your longing. Right in front of you is a hare. An early riser it seems. You stand stock still. Not a muscle moving. If it sees you, it’s not a big deal, hares aren’t clever enough to see through your ruse. They don’t associate your form with danger. It sees you now. and sure enough, it isn’t afraid. You take a step towards it. Nothing. The hare is preoccupied with an early patch of grass. Peeking through the last snow like a lonely island. It doesn’t even react as you walk up close enough to hurt it. And when it realizes the danger, it’s already a bloody mess underneath your hoof. After a winter of fish and skinny little birds, the hare is a feast. Despite its long slumber under the earth, it provides you with more fat and nourishment than any fish ever could. It’s the blood. The rich, metallic taste brings back all the energy you had lost during winter. In one fell swoop, you feel like yourself again.
Somewhere behind you, a twig snaps. The sound is loud in the otherwise silent forest. The birds don’t like being near you. After a winter, trapped with you, they know you on sight. They can tell you from the others. The ones that don’t hurt them. You turn your head towards the sound. And there it is. The most delectable meal you have seen in months. This could sustain you for weeks, maybe even months. So much blood, in such a small body. It is truly a gift. Behind it, however, is something bigger. You focus. Is it armed? Because if not, you won’t have to worry about food for a very long time.
As you determine that the bigger one is, in fact, not armed, you start to approach. You walk slowly. Deliberately. Pretending to be weary, but curious of their presence. They think they are the only apex predator around these parts. If they only knew. As you come nearer, the little one raises an arm and points at you.
“Look, Dad! That deer is so close! I can almost touch it.”
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