A Hunter's Tale

I watched as the unsuspecting geese flew into my vicinity, unaware of my presence. In perfect formation, perfect harmony. I raised the barrel of my shotgun towards the sky, almost there I thought. Just a little bit more. I sucked in a deep breath and held it for a few seconds. As I exhaled, I squeezed the trigger. The air around me exploded, the quietness that existed just a moment ago was filled with the cries of panicking geese. I was aware of the noise and my surroundings. But my concentration was fixed on my prey as it spiraled to the ground. I watched it hit the ground, the sound of the impact followed quickly after. What a great shot I thought, as my head and chest swelled with pride. One shot, no more needed, I was that good. As I walked over to my trophy boasting to myself, another large goose caught my eyes. She landed quickly and roughly but did not seem to lose her balance. She waddled towards me her eyes trained on me. I raised the rifle once again and lined her up in my sights. I put my finger over the trigger, and took a deep breath again.

She had waddled close to the goose that laid in the mud, stopped next to him, and looked around. She nudged him a few times. with no response from him. I lowered the barrel and watched her, wondered what she was doing. I was no more than fifteen feet away when she looked at me. She stared without turning away, mesmerizing me with her gaze, I couldn't look away. Her artic blue eyes that were fierce with life and fire, dimmed and turned grey. She turned her lifeless eyes away from me and nudged up tight to the dead goose. Stretching out her long, powerful wings, she covered the dead goose with her wing, enveloping his entire body.

I knew what happened, what I had done, what I had destroyed. Love in a very pure form. The goose I shot was her companion, her mate. And by the actions, her life long partner. One she loved more than life itself. She looked at me once again, and our eyes held each other. I whispered through the tears, "I'm sorry". She tucked her head into her wing that covered her fallen love, and never moved again. I dropped my rifle to the floor and stared at it, knowing that I would never look down the barrel of a gun again.