FFF: The Not So Mighty Hunter

Today, we're taking part in YAM-Aunty's Final Friday Fiction (FFF). Our inspiration this month comes from words and phrases on page 87 of whodunnit 'Another One Goes Tonight' by Peter Lovesey.

Line 8: way up the hillside towards the street
Line 12: to our lads and questioned. But while Bellerby was waiting
Line 16: quote Bellerby exactly - and this could be crucial to what

Once again, you might recognise that today's so-called 'fiction' contains distinctly autobiographical elements!

Disappointment 

The heather hides the tensely muscled terrier stance,
The giveaways, the high white tail,
And then the fuzzy little face,
With black nose pointing skywards, twitching.

Domestication, training, human bonds,
The comfy fireside bed, forgotten in a flash.
A dog scents prey, wolf-memories emerge
And blood-lust fuelled, he's halfway up the hillside.

While the human, too late, spots the herd of deer.
She calls his name. But what's a name,
To a once-wolf?

The deer head ever higher,
And scatter among the rocky crags.

The dog disappears from view.

The human, knowing she cannot follow,
While waiting wonders if this could be
The final outing with her beloved companion.
Who is in his mind a hunter.
But in reality lacks stealth, endurance, balance.
And the instinct to recall
The route back to the trail.

Who might fall from a high cliff,
Or stumble while drunk on dreams of a glorious kill,
And injured, be lost to the unforgiving wilderness.

It seems an age,
But then she spots him, bedraggled, sheepish,
Trotting towards her, tail now limp,
And in that moment, mixed with her relief,
She feels the weight of his disappointment.

The End 


Click here for links to the other FFF tales.