Encounter with Greatness

It was hunting season. My grandparents were planning their yearly trip. He and my Grandmother always headed to Thessalon, Ontario in the fall. They would visit with relatives there. My grandmother enjoyed baking and chatting with my aunt. She loved visiting with her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. My Grandfather enjoyed heading out on treks to hunt with the menfolk. Not that he ever managed to shoot anything. I think he much preferred the companionship over the kills.

A week before they were due to leave, my grandfather took a break from the packing and last minute chores. He stood out on the grassy path that lead from the house to the barn, lighting his pipe and gazing out over the field. In the distance, he could see a dark shape lumbering through the pasture to the north. His eyes held and watched as the shape took focus.

A large bull moose heading his way. The antlers, a grand spectacle. As wide as the moose was tall.

My grandfather could only stand there and stare as the beast approached. It came up to the fence not ten feet from him and stopped. Bobbed its massive head and swiveled to look at my grandfather who could only stare. Pipe forgotten and held aloft.

Big brown eyes seemed to plead with my grandfather for protection. They shared that moment. Each marveling at the other before the beast moved off. The echo of gun fire in the distance.

It wasn't until the moose was almost to the road before my grandfather found his voice and called to my grandmother to come see. But the bull moose was gone into the forest on the other side of the gravel road before my grandmother managed to emerge from their house only a few feet behind him.

"If only I had my gun," he told my cousins in Thessalon the following week.

But I knew he had appreciated that interaction far more than any hunting expedition. He had a moment to commune with the great beast and I jokingly called him the 'moose whisper'. He would only grin around his pipe clamped between his teeth and wink at me. Our secret.

Word Count = 364.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/alaskafreezeframe/45890470382

This is a true story.

Writer's Cramp - due June 28, 2022 ▼

NEW PROMPT DUE: June 28, 2022
Sitting on our suburban deck this morning, we saw 3 foxes run through the unfenced yard next to ours. Foxes have been spotted more than usual all over our neighborhood this spring/summer (and not coincidentally, we've also seen fewer rabbits).

Write your STORY or POEM about someone being surprised by a visit from some form of wildlife in their own backyard (something they don't usually see). It can be something like a deer, fox, coyote, bear, etc. - or more imaginative, like a dragon, dinosaur, or unicorn. What happens during the encounter?

You must choose ANIMAL as one of your genres.

Make sure you include your word count for stories (1000 words or less) or a line count for poems (40 lines or less) IN your forum post with the b-item link to your entry in order to be a qualified entry.