Shary's writing prompt contest #4 - Her secret

Sometimes life takes a surprising turn and it's not so bad ...

I used to hunt for sport, although most people deny that hunting is a sport. I love weapons and the power that it feels to carry them. I had a pair of rifles: a Timber Classic Marlin 336C and a Beanfield sniper Remintong Trail.

Men from the beginning of time have been in charge of dominating the species, of getting sustenance by hunting animals, that "was" my fundamental thought.

One day, as usual, I went hunting. The refreshing smell of the leaves of the pines flooded the place where I walked. Autumn was making its presence. The day had become shorter. From where I was, I could barely see the blue sky, the trees stretched upwards trying to reach the sun. Small rays of light pierced the vegetation guiding me through dirt road. I had gone deep into the forest in search of prey.

I approached cautiously at the edge of a river. I spotted some wolves on the other side. I wanted to test the effectiveness of my new rifle. However, something caught my attention.

It was the first time I saw her. Her body was lying over the leaves of a large Maple tree. I hurried to get to her. She shivered from cold. I covered her with my jacket and took her to my hut in my arms.

I spent the night with her, covering her with blankets and fanning the fire in the fireplace. The next morning, she woke up and thanked me. She approached me, very close, and stared into my eyes for a long time that made me feel uncomfortable.

Finally she said: "You are a good person, you should leave your attachment for firearms. There are more powerful and more subtle tools than your rifles. "

Her name was Susan. She never explained to me what had happened to her in the forest that day. However, It looked like a very interesting girl.

We spent the day talking more about myself than about her. She did not like my collection of prey that decorated my house, which I proudly called them: my hunting trophies. Not even the bearskin over the living room.

Next morning, some wolves came to the hut and I went out with my rifle to hunt them, but she stopped me and told me not to kill them. She studied nature and wildlife. Susan told me that animals originally inhabited the area freely, but the man's presence had changed their habits and forced them to flee into the forest. They appeared from time to time to reclaim their space. And I had to live in peace with them.

The presence of man had made many species of the forest disappear. That nowadays they are in extinction and that we had to take care of the environment, in the end it is the only planet where we live.

Susan stayed with me for 3 days.

Loneliness does not affect me. I usually last many days in the hut alone. However, just one day without her and it was not the same anymore. The cabin felt lonelier.

Mysteriously I did not see her again until 3 weeks later.

I was glad to see her.

"I sold all my trophies so they would not bother you, even the bear skin," I said

"You should have buried them, returned them to earth to fulfill their life cycle," she replied.

"You overvalue nature a lot, you know? Nature is cruel and ruthless. "

"It is not like that. Nature simply is. Neither good nor bad, does not share your duality. I've seen a cougar feed a badly wounded fox, you know? "

"That has to be seen to be believed," I replied.

She kept me company for two more days. Then she disappeared again. Susan told me that she studied wolves in the area. But she never showed me any evidence of recording her studies. So I decided one day to look for her in the forest.

Going back into the depths of the forest, near where I found her. I went back to the river. I decided not to carry any weapons. My bad…

I saw again a pack of wolves on the other side of the river. For my luck, I was the prey of another predator. An unpleasant odor flooded the place and suddenly I heard a branch break. When I realized, there was a cougar ready to jump at me. Adrenaline took its course and I did the first thing that came to mind: Run.

In despair, I stumbled over the roots of some trees and fell tumbling down a hill and hit my head very hard.

I could hardly move, I could not see well because of the blood that flowed from my head, the feline was approaching me. I tried to back off. Suddenly, it stopped and roared with its ears bent backwards. But I was not the reason for its anger, but a great white wolf that was behind me. I could swear I saw it jump between the cougar and me. The wolf showed its teeth ferociously.

The cougar decided to leave when it was being surrounded by two more wolves. I was at the mercy of those new predators. However, the wolf changed its frightening aspect when approaching me. I was frozen by fear. Its proximity made me uncomfortable. For a moment, which seemed eternal, it stared straight into my eyes in a familiar way. A feeling of peace filled my body. It came closer to sniff all over me for a while. And then it licked my head wounds. Which surprisingly stopped bleeding. Its smell was also nice. Finally, it turned around and decided to leave with the other two wolves.

"Su-san?", I dared to say, before they left.

I could tell it turned around for a moment when I said her name. "Am I getting crazy?" I thought.

I returned to my cabin, convinced that I would never hunt another creature of the forest, I had realized that animals were more than trophies and food.

I know there is a chinese saying that if you do not know why you like a person, far from like her physique, intelligence or wealth, it is probably... love. I had fallen in love with a girl, who was probably a wolf?

But that is another story…