the day when man has won again

it was a saturday early morning. the winter was starting and it was cold outside. my friend had invited me to a moose hunt. the itching to get out of the city had grown quite intense by that time. i was by nature a solitary person and thus could not imagine a better way of spending time than sitting outside in the middle of nowhere.

the forest was a distant and secluded place with birches, firs, spruces and occasional pines. moss was covering the ground and the frost was covering everything. drops of morning dew froze on the leaves. it was dead and alive and beautiful.

we climbed the hunter's bryony and got our radios and guns ready. the point of sitting there was not to move and make noises, so the moose would not get scared. we did not talk much. the cold got inside of us. we smoked a lot and watched the blue strands of smoke flowing through the air and waited. i liked it. it reminded me of life. always waiting for something. and you don't know if it's there or not.

every ten to fifteen minutes or so the other hunters would inform us on the moose location. as we sat there was silence all around us. the whole world had gone into hiding. or perhaps we did. i was not sure.

hours passed and we were yet to see any moose. we had switched places couple of times and almost failed to cross a very wide ditch. we walked over fields and crossed rivers to get to our posts. it had started snowing and we just sat and observed the calmness with which the snow flakes were falling.

i grew increasingly restless. i was not much for staying in one place for too long. i was not a patient man. i loved the nature but the waiting was killing me. is this what men do?, i thought to myself. my friend seemed fairly certain that this is what men do. it was then when i understood that i was doomed. i lost it. there was no man left in me. i thought about lying the whole day with her under the covers, listening to jazz and hiding how much i like her hair.

we had moved to our last spot. it was still snowing. as i was observing my left side, i saw the moose. he was beautiful. he was just standing there and staring at me, like he understood something that i did not. i did not aim. i will let nature have this one, i though to myself. suddenly i heard a shot. the moose went down. i jumped down very quickly and rang towards him. he was lying on the ground, still alive, breathing heavily. i understood that it was raw but necessary. he understood too. i took my knife and stuck it into its head. the breathing stopped. perhaps i was a man after all.

the blood had formed a circle. we did not say anything. we understood it had to be done. we just stood there thinking manly thoughts. i did not know how i felt. it was on that day when man has won again.